HMAS Adelaide Sails for Flight Trials of MH-60R Helicopters

08 April 2020

MH-60 Romeo helicopter ‘COBRA 15’ prepares to land onboard HMAS Adelaide as she departs Sydney for First of Class Flight Trials (photo : RAN)

Adelaide departs Sydney to maintain Navy preparedness

HMAS Adelaide has left its home port in Sydney to conduct First of Class Flight Trials for the MH-60R ‘Romeo’ helicopters off the coast of Queensland.

The trials will determine the safe operating limits of the Romeo helicopters on the Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) in a range of sea states and wind speeds at both day and night.

Adelaide’s Commanding Officer, Captain Jonathan Ley, said the training was essential to ensuring Navy maintains its readiness to conduct Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations in support of the Australian public and our neighbours if required.

“The results will provide a new standard of operational capability, informing how Navy can employ the MH-60R and LHD together in the future to increase both lethality in combat, and responsiveness during humanitarian assistance and disaster relief tasks,” Captain Ley said.

The Australian Defence Force is supporting Whole-of-Government COVID-19 efforts while maintaining operational preparedness.

Captain Ley said Navy had put in strict measures on its ships to ensure the continuation of essential training while preserving the health and welfare of its people.

All crew on Adelaide were screened for COVID-19 symptoms before departure.

HMAS Adelaide LHD (photo : Owen Foley)

At sea, health threats including communicable diseases like COVID-19, are deliberately considered as part of force health protection.

Major Fleet Units deploy with a medical officer or an appropriately trained medical team who are capable of screening and providing care to any personnel with symptoms.

“Adelaide is currently the Navy’s High Readiness Vessel and may be tasked by the Australian Government to respond to emergencies across the region, including support to civil authorities in Australia, or overseas, in their efforts against COVID-19. It is imperative that we maintain that high readiness capability, and provide reassurance that ADF can respond immediately even in times of crisis,” Captain Ley said.

The MH-60R ‘Romeo’ helicopter, based at 816 Squadron in Nowra, New South Wales, is the Navy's next generation submarine hunter and anti-surface warfare helicopter.

The trials are a crucial testing process to establish the true extent of how the MH-60R operates in the maritime environment on Navy’s various platforms.

Lieutenant Commander Chris Broadbent of the Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Trials Unit said the trials include aviation facilities assessments, equipment calibration, and evaluation of the interface between a particular helicopter type and class of ship.

“While MH-60R aircraft have been used on HMA Ships Adelaide and Canberra for some time, new tests are required to determine what new safe operating limits they can achieve when working together,” Lieutenant Commander Broadbent said.

The flight trials will be conducted in Queensland waters over the coming weeks and include actively chasing the right weather conditions to adequately prove capability.

(RAN)