Amongst a modest fleet of Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) McDonnell Douglas F-15SG Strike Eagle fighter jets, Aerospatiale AS.332M Super Puma and Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters temporarily based at Rockhampton Airport for 'Exercise Wallaby 2016', are four Boeing CH-47SD Chinook helicopters.
Transported from Paya Lebar Air Base, Singapore, to Rockhampton aboard Antonov Airlines An-124-100 UR-82703 in early September, the Chinook helicopters will provide the primary heavylift capacity for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) during the annual military exercise at Shoalwater Bay Training Area.
Ultimately, this will provide planespotters plenty of opportunity to capture the choppers while departing to, and arriving back from the designated training zone.
Maintained by 127 Squadron of Sembawang Air Base, the RSAF currently operates six Boeing CH-47D and twelve CH-47SD Chinook helicopters in the heavylift / support role of troop-lift and equipment transportation. And from time to time, the squadron's Chinooks are also used to augment in Search & Rescue (SAR) operations.
