Australian Army CH-47F Chinook fuels with SAF at Air Force base in Victoria

Army Corporal Bailey Cassidy refuels a CH-47F Chinook with some 3,000 pounds of blended sustainable aviation fuel at RAAF Base East Sale in southern Victoria, Australia. (Photo: Captain Bonnie Hunt)

An Army CH-47F Chinook refueled with about 3,000 pounds of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the Royal Australian Air Force Base East Sale in southern Victoria last month.

In a joint initiative with the Air Force and Joint Capabilities Group, the Army is making regular use of the recently certified fuel.

SAF is a liquid fuel derived from renewable sources.

Its use is primarily driven by the need for security of fuel supplies through lower reliance on conventional fuels.

The refueling at RAAF Base East Sale demonstrated the Australian Defence Force’s ability to pivot to use the fuel when it is produced domestically in coming years.

All ADF aircraft are certified to use SAF, which is compliant with existing military aviation-fuel standards and consistent with standards used by Australia’s allies and partners.

Certified for defense use in 2023, the Air Force demonstrated the use of SAF with the RAAF Roulettes conducting a flying display fueled by blended SAF at the 2023 Newcastle-Williamtown Airshow.

This year Air Force, in collaboration with Joint Capability Group, expanded the initiative to a 12-month pilot activity at RAAF Base East Sale, making the base the first airfield in Australia routinely using a blend of SAF.

Colonel Brenton Mellor, HQ Aviation Command’s director of aviation-capability management, said the Army’s continuing participation in the initiative ensured its aviators and support personnel understood the strategic significance of SAF and could see how the fuel functioned the same as conventional aviation turbine fuel.

“SAF will be an important element in keeping Army aircraft in the air,” Mellor said. “Being able to increase our fuel stocks while maintaining our military capability and interoperability with allies increases our resilience, effectiveness and deterrence. The stopover by the Chinook at East Sale is an important milestone for the use of SAF across [the Australian Defence Force], and Army Aviation looks forward to greater availability of synthetic aviation turbine fuels.”