Air Operations Element of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force


Air Operations Element of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force
Active 1974
Country Papua New Guinea
Type Air force
Role Defence
Commanders
Head of the Air force Lieutenant Colonel Peter Amos

The Air Operations Element is the air force branch of Papua New Guinea Defence Force.

History

The air force is commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Peter Amos. It consists of the Air Transport Wing and has only one squadron—the Air Transport Squadron—with a strength of about 100 personnel, being based at Jackson Airport in Port Moresby. In recent years it has suffered from significant serviceability issues. Indeed, it only became airborne again in 2005 for the first time in five years, as funding shortages resulted in the small transport aircraft fleet being grounded for an extended period. By January 2006, one CN-235, one Arava and one UH-1H Iroquois helicopter had been made operational, with single examples of each of those three types also being returned to service by 2007.

A 2003 review recommended the air force’s strength be reduced to 65 personnel, a figure which the PNGDF is working towards as part of its current restructuring programme. By the end of 2004, the air force was suffering from an acute shortage of pilots, but recruitment in 2005 succeeded in raising the pilot pool to 10 by January 2006. After several years when no training was undertaken pilots are now sent to Singapore and Indonesia for instruction on simulators. Given its limited operational activity and the lack of combat equipment, little thought has been given to tactical doctrine however.

Since 2012, the Australian government has facilitated the lease of two helicopters from Hevilift PNG to provide a rotary wing capability which in 2016 was extended until 2019. In February 2016, a contract was signed with New Zealand company Pacific Aerospace for four PAC P-750 XSTOL aircraft for search and rescue and surveillance and two PAC CT/4 Airtrainer aircraft. The UH-1H Iroquois helicopters and IAI Arava fixed-wing aircraft were to be retired in 2016.

Current organisation

The Air Operations Element is the air force branch of the PNGDF, operating a small number of light aircraft and rotary wing assets in support of army operations. Like the PNGDF in general the air force suffers from chronic equipment shortages and underfunding, but probably even more so than the other two branches. The role of the air force is to support army operations with transport, air re-supply and medical evacuation capabilities. In future it may also be used to bolster border security and conduct maritime surveillance missions.

Ranks

Currant inventory

A PNGDF CN-235 at RAAF Fairbairn in Australia
Aircraft Origin Type Variant In service Notes
Transport
IAI Arava Israel transport 3[1]
PAC P-750 XSTOL New Zealand utility 4 on order[1]
CASA CN-235 Spain / Indonesia SAR / utility 1[1]
Helicopters
Bell 212 United States utility 2[2] under lease contract
Trainer Aircraft
PAC CT-4E New Zealand primary trainer 2 on order[3]

Previous aircraft operated by Papua New Guinea consisted of the Douglas C-47, GAF Nomad, IAI-201 Arava, and the Bell UH-1 huey helicopter

References

  1. 1 2 3 "World Air Forces 2018". Flightglobal Insight. 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "AIRCRAFT of the PAPUA NEW GUINEA DEFENCE FORCE". adf-serials.com.au. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "New Aircrafts for PNGDF". pngdefence.gov.pg. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
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