Airforce training held at Westport Airport
The Westport airport hosted six personnel from 230 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) over the weekend.
They arrived Sunday 25 September and packed up again the following day.
Westport airport manager Kim Campbell says “It is always exciting when the defence force comes to town. The six personnel stayed in individual tents and were self-sufficient with their cooking and camping, it was great to see their set-up.”
The squadron are running an exercise in the Marlborough district (Blenheim/Woodbourne) over the period 19 – 30 September 2022.
The exercise involves the deployment of communications teams from Auckland to sites around the Westport and Takaka region. The training is designed to allow personnel to practice deploying and communicating to RNZAF Helicopters, which were also in the area operating from Ohakea in the central North Island.
Mrs Campbell says “The crew appeared busy with their high-tech gear, and were a pleasure to host on the airport grounds”.
The Communications and Information Systems (CIS) teams arrived in Pinzgauer 6×6 communications vehicles and were required to set up both satellite and radio systems.
CIS training manager for 230 Squadron Trevor Lewis says “The satellites provide connectivity into the New Zealand Defence Force network when deployed overseas or operating in New Zealand, and provide access to email, documents, and the Defence telephone network”.
The radio systems provide the RNZAF with the ability to communicate with aircraft that are operating in the area conducting either Search and Rescue or Mountain Flying training and include both ultra high frequency satellite and high frequency radio designed to operate over long distance or Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS).”
-ENDS-
For more information contact:
Westport airport manager Kim Campbell