No. 5 Flight RAAF

No. 5 Flight is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft flight equipped with IAI Heron unmanned aerial vehicles.

History
No. 5 Flight was raised on 18 January 2010 at RAAF Base Amberley as part of No. 82 Wing. The flight is responsible for operating the RAAF's small fleet of IAI Heron unmanned aerial vehicles which are based at Kandahar in Afghanistan. The flight's responsibilities include training personnel from all branches of the Australian Defence Force to operate the Herons in Australia, and maintaining a detachment of personnel at Kandahar who operate the UAVs as part of Operation Slipper, Australia's contribution to the war in Afghanistan. The RAAF acquired a third Heron during 2011 which No. 5 Flight uses to train UAV operators in Australia; prior to this time Heron operators were trained in Canada. The RAAF's Air Force newspaper reported in May 2011 that No. 5 Flight comprised a "handful of members". On 4 April 2013 the flight transferred to No. 92 Wing; at this time it had a strength of 18 full-time personnel and three reservists, and operated four Herons. Three of the UAVs were deployed to Afghanistan and the fourth was in Australia.