Some Other Military Movements at Rockhampton Airport as Exercise Hamel and Exercise Talisman Sabre 2015 Start

With the start of the joint Australian Army and United States Army (US Army) Exercise Hamel - which is running in conjunction with joint Military Exercise Talisman Sabre 2015 - just around the corner, there has been some increased activity at Rockhampton Airport with various military helicopters and aircraft calling in over the last few days.  Here are few more photos from the latter part of this week.

I spotted one of the two Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) NH90 helicopters - NZ3304 - flying in and out of Rockhampton Airport on Wednesday 1 July as "Warrior 04".  It operated a couple of flights to the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) and back during both the day and the night.

As we waited for the arrival of the Atlas Air B747-400 jumbo on Thursday 3 July, we were treated to the departure of a pair of Australian Army Sikorsky S-70A-9 Blackhawk helicopters - A25-212 and A25-108.

Both Blackhawks returned to Rockhampton Airport later on Thursday and were heard to use radio callsign "Claymore".

Australian Army NH Industries MRH-90 Multi-Role Helicopters continue to call into Rockhampton Airport either from Shoalwater Bay, or on transit from the South, continuing North to Townsville.  A40-028 and A40-008 were both captured on Thursday 2 July and heard to use the "Destrier" callsign.

Another heavy jet to call into Rocky on Thursday 2 June was Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing C-17A Globemaster III A41-209 which touched down from RAAF Base Amberley during the afternoon as "Stallion 11".

 After a couple of hours on the ground, it departed back to Amberley.

Later on Thursday 2 July, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Beech B350 Super King Air A32-372 made a rare appearance in Central Queensland, calling into Rockhampton from the South as "Hudson 35".

This Super King Air is operated by the RAAF's 32 Squadron based at East Sale in Victoria and after staying for the night, departed early on Friday 3 July for East Sale again as "Hudson 35".

A little later in the morning, fellow RAAF Super King Air A32-670 called in from Townsville as "Dingo 10".  It departed a little later for RAAF Base Amberley.

Australian Army NH Industries MRH-90 Multi-Role Helicopter A40-014 called in from the South and departed to Townsville on Friday 3 July as "Destrier 14".

The second of two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - serial A45-262 - was spotted out on the cross Runway 04/22 at Rockhampton Airport.  At one point, it was towed on the main Runway 15/33 at Rockhampton but towed back to its facility where configuring and testing continued into the evening.

Finally, 'AC' has sent through a couple of photos of the US Army Logistics Support Vessel (LSV) USAV CW3 Harold C. Clinger (LSV-2) which docked at Gladstone this week and unloaded a large number of vehicles to participate in Exercises Hamel and Talisman Sabre.

It's been a great week - and hopefully next week will be even better!!

Photos taken by 'AC'  ©