GUN
HO
New rifle gets thumbs up
By
Graham Davis and Leesha Furse
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CPL
Shaun Sten takes aim with a new AW-50F during Exercise Dugong.
Air Force will use the .50 calibre rifle to destroy unexploded
ordnance or suspicious items from a long distance, up to
two kilometres.
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Photos
by Brenton Freind
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FIFTEEN
of the Air Force’s top explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians
gave the ADF’s new AW 50 anti-materiel rifles their first real
test during Exercise Dugong.
The weapon fires a .50 calibre round, is accurate out to two
kilometres and is used by the Air Force to disrupt unexploded
ordnance.
Air Force used the rifles while joining 160 Navy members and
Defence civilians in a mock battle over access rights to ship
tungsten out of the port of Eden on the south coast of NSW.
The three-week long exercise aimed to test the personnel and assets
of the Navy’s mine warfare group, the Air Force’s EOD capability
and support agencies, such as the Hydrographic Service, Defence
Maritime Services and the Fleet Air Arm.
Flight Lieutenant David Jardine led the group from No. 395 Expeditionary
Combat Support Wing from RAAF Base Townsville.
He described the AW 50 as “excellent”. “The capability gives you
stand off and allows for the safe disposal of large ordnance,”
FLTLT Jardine said.
“It’s fantastic. It increases the operators’ safety and the speed
in which they can do their job. We’ve used it before, but this
is really the first exercise where we’ve used it for rapid airfield clearance scenarios. It’s the first real test.”
The
group also employed F88SA1Cs and F89s for greater accuracy while
disrupting small munitions.
FLTLT Jardine’s team were given many and varied roles after arriving
in their new dual cab all-wheel-drive trucks. Each truck carried
an equipment module and a two-seat ATV and was fitted with an
hydraulic loading platform.
In particular, the scenario demanded they test their ordnance
search and disposal skills. This included searching buildings
for devices. FLTLT Jardine said the exercise continued to improve
the interoperability between the Navy and the Air Force.
“We’ve been involved in the last three Dugongs,” he said. “It’s
really good. There’s a lot of interoperability, the same as we
would have on operations. It’s the same sort of techniques, tactics
and procedures.
“It’s ongoing and we’ve been refining and developing it so we’re
a lot closer together. It [the exercise] was a seamless integration,”
he said.
