Australian Air Force Transport Aircraft on Goodwill Visit to Indonesia

An Australian Defence Force (ADF) military transport aircraft, the C-17A Globemaster, will arrive at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in Jakarta today as part of a two-day goodwill visit to build on the defence cooperation activities agreed earlier this year by the Chiefs of the Australian and Indonesian defence forces.

The Commander of the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) Air Lift Group, Air Commodore John Oddie, is accompanying the Globemaster and will meet with his Indonesian counterparts during the visit - Air Commodore Oddie was deployed to Sumatra as part of Australia’s airlift response to the 2004 tsunami.

The first of Australia’s four C-17As was delivered in December 2006. The aircrafts have proved to be an important strategic airlift asset including involvement in a number of regional assistance tasks, such as flying aid to Papua New Guinea following floods in November 2007, and transporting helicopters from South Africa to Burma in May 2008 for humanitarian assistance.

“The Globemaster can transport up to 70 tonnes of cargo over long distances and at high speeds, which is important for humanitarian assistance or disaster relief operations,” Air Commodore Oddie said.

Capable of holding four times the volume of a C-130 Hercules, the Globemaster can transport three large helicopters, or a mobile field hospital, or conduct aero-medical evacuation with up to 36 patients.

Australia and Indonesia conduct several combined Air Force exercises annually, including Exercise Rajawali Ausindo, a cooperative airlift exercise between Hercules aircraft from the RAAF’s No 37 Squadron and TNI-AU Squadrons 31 and 32.

The next Rajawali Ausindo is scheduled to be held at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in July.

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