ADF General discussion thread

[ADMk2]

One thing I never quite got about Arafura and lack of helo hangar and heavy landing space. Surely a Patrol boat with a helo can patrol a dramatically larger area? Get crew to trouble spots faster. Carry an offensive stick of some type. Interrogate contacts without having to transport the ship 100+kms. Get injured or ill crew or supplies to shore or larger vessels, launch and land more able uncrewed UAVs, even do anti submarine work…and so on and so on….

Simply didn’t have the budget (or the helos) for it.

I’m sure we could have conjured up some maritime capable EC-135’s fair easily and given them some helicopter capability…

But the ships were never intended to by RAN - they are supposed to have a maritime UAS but that has been such a dogs breakfast of an acquisition, to the point they have taken it off RAN and Army is now running the project - to have helos from the start.