Australian Military Units

Caribou aircraft

Caribou

The De Haviland Canada (DHC) Caribou has been the workhorse of the Australian military for more than forty years. Its main operational role is in support of the Australian Army. Although it is slow and noisy, the Caribou is a versatile transport aircraft, capable of short take-offs and landings on unprepared runways. Its rear-opening ramp doors allow personnel and cargo to be unloaded quickly. The Caribou was ordered in the early 1960s to replace the reliable, though aging, Dakota aircraft.

The RAAF received its first Caribous in May in February 1964 when the first batch of eighteen aircraft was handed over at the DHC plant at Downsville, near Toronto. The aircraft were then flown from Canada to Australia. In July 1964 Caribous being ferried from Canada to Australia were diverted to Butterworth, Malaysia, where they became the basis of RAAF, Transport Flight Vietnam (RTFV), which later became 35 Squadron. Further Caribous were delivered to Vietnam, while those that reached Australia went to 38 Squadron.

In addition to their work in Australia, from 1965 to 1975 RAAF Caribous have subsequently been used in Papua and New Guinea, and flew “mercy” flights to refugees in East Timor in 1975. Between 1975 and 1978 they operated with the United Nations Military Observer Group, supplying observation posts along the India–Pakistan border. More recently, the Caribous flew famine-relief operations to Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya in 1997, tsunami relief to Papua New Guinea in 1999, and have since been used in East Timor and the Solomon Islands.


Specifications

A4 DHC-4 Caribou

Type: light tactical transport

Entered service: 1964

Crew: 2, capable of carrying 32 troops

Wing span: 29.15 m

Length: 22.13 m

Weight (laden): 12,927 kg

Speed: max. 348km/h; economical cruise 293km/h

Armament: nil


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