723 Squadron RAN
| 723 Squadron RAN | |
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| 250px
Royal Australian Navy Bell 429 of 723 Squadron
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| Active | 1952–present |
| Country |  Australia |
| Role | Training |
| Battle honours | Vietnam 1967–71 Kuwait 1991 East Timor 1999 |
723 Squadron is a Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron. The squadron was first raised in 1952 and throughout its history has served operationally during the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and in East Timor. It currently operates as a helicopter training squadron and is based at HMAS Albatross at Nowra, New South Wales.
Contents
History
723 Squadron was first commissioned into the RAN on 7 April 1952 and was equipped with one Dakota, one Wirraway, one Sea Otter and two Sea Fury aircraft. During the Vietnam War, personnel from the squadron operated as part of the Experimental Military Unit, a joint Australian-American helicopter assault and transport unit.[1]
During the squadron's history, the battle honours "Vietnam 1967–71", "Kuwait 1991", and "East Timor 1999" have been earned.[2][3]
Current roles
723 is currently active as a helicopter training squadron equipped with 13 Aerospatiale AS 350BA Ecureuil (Squirrel) and three Bell 429 helicopters. The Squadron is based at HMAS Albatross (NAS Nowra). The Squirrels are used for conversion training all pilots, observers and aircrew from fixed wing to rotary wing aircraft. The Bell 429 joined the Squadron in 2012 on lease from Raytheon Australia and are used for multi engine training for pilots moving onto other aircraft such as the SH-60B Seahawk.
Aircraft
Current
- Aerospatiale AS 350BA Ecureuil (Squirrel) – training
- Bell 429 - training, search and rescue, medevac and personnel transport.[4]
Previous
- Supermarine Sea Otter
- de Havilland Tiger Moth
- Auster Autocar
- CAC Wirraway
- Bristol Sycamore
- Hawker Sea Fury
- Fairey Firefly
- Westland Scout
- de Havilland Sea Venom
- de Havilland Vampire
- Douglas C-47 Dakota
- Bell UH-1
- Bell/CAC 206B-1 Kiowa
- Westland Wessex
- Hawker Siddeley HS 748
- Agusta A109E[5]
References
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- ↑ Article from The Australian newspaper online, retrieved 2007-08-30.
External links
- RAN webpage on 723 Squadron's history
- Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia webpage on 723 Squadron
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