LADS wins hydro shield

Proud members of the LADS Flight with the shield presented by MCAUST, RADM Raydon Gates at Divisions in Cairns. The shield is for efficiency but also honours members of the flight who have served since its inception in 1993.

By LCDR Mark Matthews

On February 22 LADS Flight (Laser Airborne Depth Sounder Unit) celebrated 10 years as an operational unit of the RAN. Over the last 10 years LADS has completed more than 1500 operational sorties and surveyed vast areas of previously uncharted Australian waters. This has made LADS arguably the most productive hydrographic survey system in the world.

Based in Cairns the flight has deployed on numerous occasions to sites including Adelaide, Darwin and NAS Nowra. It also deployed to East Timor during 2000 in support of INTERFET operations there. Deployments vary in duration from a few days to several months. The flight also forward deploys on a regular basis to towns such as Mackay and RAAF Scherger (Weipa). LADS have now surveyed a significant portion of the Great Barrier Reef. Survey Motor Launches continue to support LADS operations as they ‘fill-in-the gaps’ in LADS data where the water was either too deep or too murky for the LADS system to detect the seafloor.

The flight comprises a mixture of RAN personnel and civilian contractors (from Tenix - LADS Corporation). Uniformed personnel from the Australian Hydrographic Service plan the surveys, operate the airborne survey system and process the collected data that will eventually be incorporated into nautical charts. Contract personnel provide support, maintenance and the pilots and aircraft maintainers to support LADS operations.

The flight was honoured by MCAUST, RADM Raydon Gates, at HMAS Cairns Divisions on February 26 with the award of the Hydrographic Efficiency Shield for 2002. It was a fitting tribute for the LADS Flight to receive this award for the second time at the completion of ten years service. While the award is in recognition of the efforts for 2002 it also recognises the efforts of all who have served in LADS since 1993 and who have put into place the procedures and professional ethos that has been the hallmark of LADS since it’s inception.

.