Air Lift Group
The Royal Australian Air Force's Air Lift Group is responsible for providing the Australian Defence Force’s combat airlift capability, including:
- air logistics support
- airborne operations
- special operations
- VIP transport
- air-to-air refuelling
- search and survivor assistance
- aeromedical evacuation
- training.
Air Lift Group is one of the largest Force Element Groups within Air Force. Air Lift Group operates six aircraft types from three separate RAAF Bases and Defence Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra. It directly controls Nos 84 and 86 Wings and the Air Mobility Control Centre from its headquarters at RAAF Base Richmond. Air Lift Group's primary roles are:
- air logistic support
- airborne operations including airdrop, insertion and parachuting operations
- air-to-air refuelling.
Air Lift Group played an important role in ADF and coalition operations in the 1991 Gulf War, Cambodia, East Timor, Solomon Islands, Bougainville, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, War Against Terror and the 2003 Iraq War.
Air Lift Group has also been used extensively for humanitarian missions and United Nations support:
- supporting humanitarian and reconstruction efforts after natural disasters
- Cyclone Larry north Queensland 2006
- Pakistan earthquake 2005
- Indian Ocean Boxing Day tsunami 2004
- search and rescue
- medical evacuations
- Bali bombings 2002 and 2005
- Rabaul volcanic eruption 1994
- evacuations from Vietnam and Darwin after Cyclone Tracy
- other emergencies.
Contact
- RAAF Base Richmond, Sydney, NSW
Organisation
- Royal Australian Air Force
- Air Force Headquarters
- Air Command
- Air Lift Group
- No 84 Wing - air-to-air refuelling, VIP transport and ground services training
- No 86 Wing - light, medium and heavy airlift
- Air Mobility Control Centre - central combat airlift tasking control centre
- Air Lift Group