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Special forces soldiers will conduct a series of counter terrorism exercises around Sydney Harbour next month onboard Australia's new US-made Black Hawk helicopters, which have gone on public display for the first time.
At Sydney's Holsworthy Barracks, the army has showcased the capabilities of its new $3 billion helicopter fleet by staging a mock hostage rescue operation on Tuesday using three of the recently delivered UH-60M aircraft.
Ten of the Lockheed Martin-produced helicopters are already operating in Australia, with a further two to arrive next month, as the army works to bring into service a total fleet of 40 Black Hawks next year.
The head of the army's Joint Aerospace Systems Division, Major General Jeremy King, says once all the new equipment is eventually fitted to the new Black Hawks, the fleet will have comparable capabilities to the Taipan helicopters they are replacing.
Major General Jeremy King said the capability of the new helicopters was similar to what Australia had in its Taipans. (ABC News: Timothy Ailwood)
"[They're] a really impressive capability, a modern and credible capability that's going to set us up for success in relation to the challenges of modern warfare," Major General King told reporters at Holsworthy Barracks.
Major General King has also revealed that the disposal of Australia's 46 grounded Taipans, which Ukraine tried unsuccessfully to acquire, will be complete by the end of the year.
Last year, Australia permanently grounded its European-designed MRH-90 helicopters following a deadly crash off Queensland that killed four army personnel.
"About 28 of those air frames have now been destroyed, with much of the air frames being recycled in terms of the materials that were in those air frames – that destruction will be complete by the end of the year," Major General King told reporters.
"We've sent three tranches of parts across to the European operators, they have been inducted back in and are being moved into a common parts exchange for the other operators to use to treat their parts shortfalls, and we've also sent a tranche across to New Zealand."
Three Black Hawks were flown in Sydney on a mock drill on Tuesday, with counter terrorism exercises to be conducted in Sydney Harbour next month. (ABC News: Timothy Ailwood)
Throughout November, the army's sixth aviation regiment will fly Black Hawks around Sydney Harbour transporting special forces soldiers for a series of counter terrorism exercises that will take place during the late afternoon and early evening.
But despite the accelerated delivery of Black Hawks, the army's director of aviation capability management Colonel Brenton Mellor said the fleet would not be available before summer's "high-risk weather season" because further tests and evaluation were required.