![]() The fact that Australia will now be purchasing 10-12 billion dollars in military choppers to alleviate the current problems is unbelievable. And before anyone goes, “but, but the NH-90 truly ruly is a great helicopter”, it never performed how the manufacturer claimed, it has been grounded so many times and they could never go into battle as they were so unreliable. ![]() If European choppers are anything to go by, thank God, we got out of the submarine purchase. ![]() The replacement of the Tiger with the Apache, the removal of the naval Taipans to purchase additional MH-60R’s and now the removal of the Army Taipans to replace it with the helicopter it was supposedly so superior to, the Blackhawk. One thing after another with both the Taipan and Tiger has resulted in the “re-purchase” of 3 fleets of helicopters. They were a piece of junk from the outset. Who (if anyone) will be held responsible for the debacle that was the procurement of the NH-90 helicopter. Procurement options will be subject to government consideration once all the relevant information is made available. “The Australian government is exercising its right to understand what options are available to provide the necessary capability at a reasonable cost into the future,” Minister Dutton added. Meanwhile, the UH60 Black Hawk is billed as the most widely used utility helicopter variant in the world, with the UH60M variant in service with the US Army and other nations for over a decade. “It is critically important there is a safe, reliable and capable utility helicopter available for our service men and women into the future, with reasonable and predictable operating costs.” Speaking of the decision, Minister Dutton said: “The performance of the MRH-90 Taipan has been an ongoing and well-documented concern for Defence and there has been a significant effort at great expense to try to remediate those issues. The ANAO stated there remains an “ongoing inability” to meet materiel capability delivery milestones and performance criteria relating to the Taipan’s gun mount, aero-medical evacuation equipment and the Common Mission Management System. The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) again listed the MRH program (AIR 9000 Phase 2, 4 and 6) as a “project of concern” in its 2019-20 Defence Major Projects report. The government will need to consider and approve the decision once information on the helicopters is available.However, Defence has previously acknowledged that the MRH-90 Taipan fleet has not met contracted availability requirements and has exceeded operational cost expectations ahead of its planned withdrawal from service in 2037. “The Australian Government is exercising its right to understand what options are available to provide the necessary capability at a reasonable cost into the future,” Dutton said. It has been in service with the US Army and other nations for more than a decade. The latest version of the UH60 Black Hawk, which the Australian government is requesting, is the most widely used utility helicopter variant in the world. “The performance of the MRH90 Taipan has been an ongoing and well-documented concern for Defence and there has been a significant effort at great expense to try to remediate those issues,” Dutton said in a statement. The trouble-plagued Taipan, used by the Australian Army as its utility helicopter and the Navy to support capability, has not met contracted availability requirements or the expected cost of ownership.ĭefence was expecting to withdraw the Taipan in 2037, but the new acquisition would bring that date forward. The Mandarin reported in October that Australia had made an earlier request to the US to buy MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. Australia is looking to replace its Taipan helicopter with Black Hawks and Seahawks from the US.ĭefence minister Peter Dutton announced on Friday that the government had requested advice from the US on buying up to 40 Black Hawk helicopters that would “potentially replace” the Taipan helicopter used in the Army and Navy.
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