“They'll be deployed as part of Australia's continuing commitment to the fight against terrorism," acting Prime Minister Mark Vaile told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
The soldiers are in addition to 190 Australian personnel currently deployed to Afghanistan, as part of the Special Forces Task Group.
In September 2005, elite special services soldiers returned to Afghanistan to help counter the growing security threat from the Taliban.
Asked to explain why the extra troops were necessary, Mr Vaile said, "Underpinning both (Afghanistan and Iraq) is the global fight against terrorism."
“Although it might be in the Middle East, global terrorism is global terrorism and we must continue to fight against it in Afghanistan and in Iraq," he said.
Opposition support
The Federal Opposition supports the deployment.
Defence spokesman Robert McClelland has welcomed the potential for more soldiers to be in Afghanistan.
“It's where Osama Bin Laden is, it's where the base of the drug trade is that funds so much of the terrorist activity in the South East Asian region, so it's clearly dangerous, but nonetheless, an important area from Australia's regional security point-of-view.”
Chinook helicopters
Defence Minister Robert Hill said the helicopter capability will provide additional aero-medical evacuation and air mobility support.
"There is a real need for rotary transport capabilities in Afghanistan and I am pleased that Australia is now able to make a further contribution,” Senator Hill said.
The helicopters are commonly used for transporting troops, heavy equipment, supplies and medical evacuation.
They will be drawn from Townsville in Queensland and will become part of the Combined Forces Command in
Afghanistan.
At the moment, the helicopters are undergoing a $25 million upgrade to ensure they are combat ready by February and are expected to be fully operational by late March.
"The Chinooks will be equipped with an enhanced level of ballistic protection against direct fire weapons, such as small arms fire, as well as advanced communications equipment to operate with Coalition partners.
They will also be fitted out for aero-medical evacuation and have improved gun mounts and will be provided with increased situational awareness to operate in demanding flying environments,” Senator Hill said.
The Chinooks and their team will remain in Afghanistan for the balance of the Special Forces' deployment, which ends in September, but the helicopters could stay until November with a reconstruction group.
Reconstruction team
The Howard Government is also looking at deploying a Provincial Reconstruction team of up to 200 troops in the next few months.
The Government has given in-principle agreement to a team but the exact role and composition of it has not yet been decided.
That won’t happen until NATO works out the details of phase three of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) expansion into Southern Afghanistan.