After 45 years of proud service, the Air Force DHC-4 Caribou will retire at the end of this year.

The announcement was made on 19 February 2009 by Minister for Defence, the Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP, who said, “Our nation is extremely proud of the magnificent service that the Caribou has provided to the Royal Australian Air Force over the past five decades.”

RAAF took delivery of its first Caribou in April 1964. Operated by Number 38 Squadron, based in Townsville, the Caribou has supported ADF operations throughout the South West Pacific and in South East Asia.

It has seen active service in Vietnam, humanitarian relief in Kashmir, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea, and has also supported peacekeeping operations in Solomon Islands and East Timor.

Its retirement was brought forward due to age-related factors including corrosion, fatigue and obsolescence issues, which made the aircraft increasingly difficult and costly to maintain.

A future Tactical Battlefield Airlift capability is being procured through Project Air 8000 Phase 2, with a scheduled in-service date of 2013. In the meantime No. 38 SQN will operate up to eight Hawker Pacific King Air light transport aircraft.

Source: Australian Air Force