OPERATION PLES DRAI

THE PNG AND AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCES WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE PEOPLE OF PNG DURING THE 1997 – 1998 DROUGHT

CONCEPT OF AIR OPERATIONS

The main task of the Australian Defence Force in Papua New Guinea revolves around distributing emergency food aid to the worst affected areas which are only accessible by air transport.

The Australian Army and RAAF aircraft are conducting relief operations in five provinces: Western, Gulf, Central, Milne Bay and West Sepik.

Determining which areas throughout these five provinces require emergency food aid to be delivered by the Australian Defence Force’s aircraft is a matter for the Papua New Guinea Government. The Papua New Guinea Government’s drought relief coordinating agency is the National Disasters and Emergency Service.

Using an effective combination of its RAAF fixed and Army rotary wing air aircraft, backed up by comprehensive planning and the additional support of two Royal Australian Navy Landing Craft, the Australian Defence Force is aiming to deliver up to 634 tones of aid throughout the five provinces each month.

Using Jackson’s Airfield at Port Moresby as the hub of the air operation, the Royal Australian Air Force’s fixed wing transport aircraft pre-position bulk supplies of aid to forward areas where these aircraft can land. These areas are described as "nodes". From these nodes, such as Kiunga in Western Province near the boarder with Indonesia, the Army’s Chinook helicopters deliver the aid out to the isolated communities which are inaccessible by any transport other than air.

The deployment of the Royal Australian Navy’s two Landing Craft allows the pre-positioning of some of the bulk supplies to nodes near the coast. From these nodes, the supplies will then be delivered by Australian Army Black Hawk helicopters and RAAF Caribous.