Caribou/King Air replacement
If the Australian DoD is at all interested in cost-effectiveness regarding military capabilities; why not the BT-67 for overcoming the gap in tactical air transport capability? See: BT-67, An Overview and this thread: http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...ghanistan.html
The piston-engined DC3/Dakota was operated successfully and extensively throughout the regional tropical archipelago for years. The stretched and enhanced turboprop BT-67 now has pretty impressive cargo capacity and performance. Unit cost only somewhere around $6million so another great bargain, like the Huey II.
Problem is Australia virtually gave away its large fleet of pretty low time Dakota airframes instead of storing them at say Woomera, so finding sufficient now on the world scene might be difficult. Similar story of course for the RAAF C-130Es re-introduced into military service with Pakistan in 2005, after refurbishment. (SIGH!!!)
Last edited by Bushranger 71; 2nd May 2011 at 00:07.