The Australian Army – and the government – initially tried to dismember 45 MRH90 Taipan helicopters in secret. Next, information was either concealed or ignored about interest from Ukraine in receiving the fleet to help evacuate their wounded from combat zones. Then all the helicopters were torn apart – disassembled – with Defence moving with unprecedented speed to achieve that result.
Finally, the public were told that dismembering the fleet and selling the spare parts was in the best interests of the taxpayer. On January 18, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said no one was interested in acquiring the helicopters – ignoring the request from Ukraine – adding:
“Therefore, the best value for taxpayers was to disassemble the aircraft and to begin selling the spare parts.”
On October 9, US online publication Breaking Defense quoted Axel Aloccio, NHIndustries (NHI) CEO, as saying the spares acquired from Australia were valued at AU $405 million. NHI is the manufacturer of the NH90 and is a joint venture formed by Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo Helicopters, and Fokker Aerostructures.
However, multiple independent industry sources have told APDR that once the cost of disassembly, transport, storage, repairs and updates of various components had been taken into account the amount paid to Australia “would have been close to zero, or even at a loss.”
Furthermore, once compensation has been paid to Australian companies who invested in good faith in Taipan support based on 30 years of operations, it is likely that the entire exercise will have cost Defence a considerable amount of money. As well as having to pay out Airbus Helicopters themselves, other suppliers seeking redress are likely to include: Safran (engine support); Leonardo (gearbox maintenance); and Thales (electronics).
Asked for a comment on the value of the spares, Defence replied:
“Due to commercial-in-confidence considerations, no additional information can be provided.”
Since the CEO of NHI has revealed the figure for spare parts and said the company has received 300 out of a total of 4,000 items from Australia, it is unclear why additional information cannot be provided – other than to protect the reputation of Defence itself.
Speaking of the Taipan / NH90 program overall, Mr Aloccio said he expected the global fleet to be operating for another 50 to 60 years and the number of helicopters built would continue to increase. As well as mentioning Australia, he also acknowledged that another unhappy customer, Norway, had lodged a claim against NHI for non-performance which had then launched a counter-claim against the Norwegian government. The combined case is due to go to court next year.
Mr Aloccio also spoke about previous supply chain problems – especially the slow delivery of some spares – but referenced an order of additional helicopters from the Netherlands plus strong interest from several potential new customers in the Middle East. He also repeated information contained in a news release of June 13, which says:
“The NATO Helicopter Management Agency (NAHEMA) and NHIndustries (NHI) announced today the signing of a major contract for the development and delivery of Software Release 3 (SWR3) for the NH90 helicopter. This milestone agreement, valued in excess of 600M€, underscores a continued commitment to enhancing the operational capabilities and performance, and extending the in-service life of the NH90 fleet.
“The signing ceremony took place today at the NAHEMA headquarters in Aix-en-Provence, with the attendance of senior representatives from both organizations and NAHEMA’s countries involved in the initiative: Belgium, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands.
“The SWR3 is an important configuration update for the in-service NH90 helicopters, achieved as a collaboration between the NHI Partner Companies (Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo and Fokker) and major European suppliers. This new enhanced configuration further boosts the outstanding NH90 operational capabilities, featuring equipment such as the first airborne Data Link 22 on a helicopter, next-generation high definition Electro-Optical system (LEOSS-T) and Sonar (OTS-90 Mark II), civil GNSS/FMS and additional weapons integration.”
Further research in Australia shows that the Taipan support facilities operated by Airbus at Oakey and Holsworthy consistently achieved availability rates of 80%. However, those operated by Army (Townsville) and separately the RAN (Nowra) were often as low as 30%. We have previously explained that the low level of availability when the military was in control came about because of several factors including a “soldier first, maintenance second” policy and lack of commercial incentives to increase flying hours.
Airbus Helicopters has been contractually muzzled by Defence and are unable to comment or supply any information.
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