PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Blackhawks in Sydney
View Single Post
Old 30th Jul 2005, 19:52
  #1 (permalink)  
itchybum
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Over 250 posts so far. Perhaps I support Pprune by posting regularly.
Posts: 349
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Blackhawks in Sydney

I "emboldened" the areas I felt reeked of BS in the following article which was recently published under the nauseating headline of:

"Black Angels to Watch Over Us..."

Sydney's frontline anti-terror armoury will be dramatically boosted by the relocation of a squadron of combat-ready Black Hawk helicopters to the city.

Federal Defence Minister Robert Hill said the move had been brought forward by a year to enhance Sydney's strike force as "the threat of terrorism has grown".

The Black Hawk is the country's most formidable fast strike weapon and is manned by crack special forces trained to deal with al-Qaeda style terrorist attacks.

Senator Hill described the move as "a major boost in the capabilities of our special forces along the east coast of Australia".

The relocation will involve 12 Black Hawk helicopters from the 171 Aviation Squadron redeploying from Townsville to Holsworthy by the end of next year.

The Black Hawk can carry 11 fully equipped soldiers and a crew of four. It is armed with two 7.62 millimetre machine guns and can be fitted with missiles and 20 millimetre cannon. In addition, Australian Army Black Hawks are to be equipped with warning systems and counter- measures to combat ground attack.

However, the Black Hawk's history has not been without controversy. In 1996 18 soldiers were killed when two Black Hawks collided on a training exercise in Queensland.

In the same year a Townsville-based Black Hawk came close to crashing while carrying then prime minister Paul Keating.

In June 1992 two soldiers were killed when a Black Hawk crashed near the Oakey army training base in south-eastern Queensland.

Senator Hill said the relocation of the squadron was triggered by fears that Sydney or another major east coast location could be targeted at any time.

"We have in mind major cities because it's major cities that have been attacked in recent years," he said. "With this means of transport we can get our special forces anywhere in the Sydney area within a matter of minutes.

"It's also about halfway between Brisbane and Melbourne and closer to Canberra.

"Our special forces are already considered among the most capable in the world. This initiative will further strengthen our domestic and offshore security capabilities."


---------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah I know the S70A can be fitted with additional weapons but will they ever be??

Manned by SF troops like Johnny Rambo! Who needs pilots??

"Sydney's strike force"..... good grief. What about Melbourne's???

"trained to deal with al-Qaeda style terrorist attacks" That's great and I know they're well-trained but why build up peoples' expectations of them? How are they going to deal with an Al Qaeda truck bomb that just went off with no warning?

Seriously, who writes this sh!t???


By the way, the article was accompanied by a very cheesey photo of the Team all standing in one rank (apart from one of the 16 Bde guys who needs to practice his right dress......)
itchybum is offline