The C-27J Spartans based at RAAF Base Richmond will soon be able to conduct aero-medical evacuations (AME) from remote regional communities across Australia, following a trial conducted last month.
The trials were an opportunity to test existing AME techniques, procedures and equipment with the Air Force’s newest airlifter.
Defence has conducted AME missions with the C-130J (also based at Richmond) in the past, evacuating hospitals in Queensland threatened by cyclones and floodwaters, or bringing home Australians from the Bali Bombings.
In Air Force service, the C-27J is able to operate from runways too small or soft to support much larger transport aircraft, allowing the aircraft to conduct AME missions at the battlefield or in areas that have been struck by humanitarian or natural disasters.
Allowing the C-27J to conduct these missions too will allow Air Force to retrieve patients from airfields that can not accommodate larger aircraft - whether it be on the frontline of an operation, or from remote regional communities that have been struck by a natural disaster.
