|
Post by richard1098 on Feb 15, 2024 16:02:13 GMT 12
ADF MRH90s (NH90) were actually pretty much stock standard German Army spec. It's the RNZAF that operates a modified variant. Tiger. That whole program financially imploded due to the small number of airframes eventually bought by France and Germany (nowhere near the 200 each originally planned). Germany recently decided to retire their Tigers early and replace them with H145Ms, which pretty much validates the ADF's decision. Soon the entire Tiger fleet will consist of about 90 aircraft operate by France and Spain. Good luck to them with that. H145M is a poor replacement for Tiger if you want go into combat. That said helicopters in general are proving to be incredibly vulnerable when they have to go near any decent proper air defences. hence cancellation of the US Army FARA aircraft and JASDF not replacing their Apaches. Whilst the Australian Army seem to be heading on with the 5 billion Apache. I wonder how many uncrewed aircraft we could get with that money. . Apache is an AH not RH though, hence the latest E model having the ability to control drones for recon tasks, and current programs to integrate longer range missiles. There'll be no reason why an Apache would need to fly into defended airspace.
|
|
|
Post by Calum on Feb 16, 2024 11:34:21 GMT 12
H145M is a poor replacement for Tiger if you want go into combat. That said helicopters in general are proving to be incredibly vulnerable when they have to go near any decent proper air defences. hence cancellation of the US Army FARA aircraft and JASDF not replacing their Apaches. Whilst the Australian Army seem to be heading on with the 5 billion Apache. I wonder how many uncrewed aircraft we could get with that money. . Apache is an AH not RH though, hence the latest E model having the ability to control drones for recon tasks, and current programs to integrate longer range missiles. There'll be no reason why an Apache would need to fly into defended airspace. The Recon vs Attack point is noted. But if it's not required to fly into defended airspace what's the point of it? Anything with the right sensors control UCAS. And were does the ADF think they are going to operate a short ranged attack helicopter noting we're gearing to a great power conflict? To me it's looks we're buying yesterdays platform tomorrow...
|
|
|
Post by McFly on Feb 16, 2024 12:00:09 GMT 12
MRH-90 crash Australia - Looks like the truth is surfacing. The HUD shows pitch as roll and Defence says we’re managing it.! RAAF Test Pilot Says ADF pilots flew with faulty TOP OWL equipment during fatal Taipan crash in 2023.
|
|
|
Post by McFly on Mar 7, 2024 20:08:43 GMT 12
NZ Defence Force turns down Australian helicopters ( Link) As the NZ military prepares to sell off decades-old aircraft, it has been revealed it passed up an offer to expand its fleet of helicopters 06/03/2024 The New Zealand Defence Force turned down an opportunity to buy additional helicopters from Australia due to the “challenging and costly” task of adapting them, not because of personnel shortages, the military says. However, the NZDF has acknowledged it is still facing difficulties in recruiting enough crew for its fleet of NH90 helicopters and could have problems sustaining a long-term deployment overseas.
The Australian military decided to put its fleet of MRH90 Taipan helicopters – a variant of the NH90 – into early retirement last September after one of the helicopters crashed during a training exercise near the Whitsundays, killing all four soldiers on board. Although an inquiry into the cause of the crash only began last week, the Australian government decided to bring forward the pre-planned replacement of the helicopters with US-made Black Hawks.
A number of other countries’ militaries, including New Zealand, are still operating the largely identical NH90s and were approached by Australia to see if they wished to purchase their retired helicopters. In an Australian Senate estimates hearing held last month, Major General Jeremy King said New Zealand was the only country that had expressed an interest in buying the Taipans as entire aircraft – rather than for parts – but “eventually stepped back” from making an offer.
Ukraine’s government subsequently asked if it could receive the Taipans as a donation to help in its ongoing battle against Russia’s invasion, with the chief of the country’s defence intelligence service citing New Zealand’s success with NH90s as an example of how it could overcome any servicing challenges. “Ukraine is 13 times smaller than Australia, which allows us to create a single defended maintenance hub, similar to the New Zealand NH90 operations,” Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov wrote in a letter to Australian defence minister Richard Marles obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald. However, the Australian government said the Taipans had already begun to be stripped for spare parts and were too far through the disposal process to be returned to flying condition.
Although several other countries have expressed dissatisfaction with maintenance issues related to their NH90s, their manufacturer maintains they are safe to fly, and the NZDF has previously received praise overseas for the reliability of its own fleet. However, broader problems with the recruitment and retention of defence personnel have begun to bite; in January, the NZ Herald reported on the contents of an NZDF briefing to the last government, warning that “low crew numbers present risks to sustained deployments” of Air Force helicopters offshore.
In a statement, a Defence Force spokesman told Newsroom the military had considered a number of options regarding the retired Taipans, but had ultimately focused on seeking to buy spare parts and support equipment “to increase [the] pool size and improve long-term fleet supportability” of the existing NH90s rather than seeking to expand the fleet. “Increasing the New Zealand NH90 fleet size would have been a significant undertaking. The Australian MRH90 helicopters are similar but of a sufficiently different configuration to New Zealand’s NH90s, so standardising the fleet would have been a challenging and costly activity.”
The spokesman said current shortages of defence personnel played no part in the decision, but acknowledged the growth of crew numbers for the NH90s “continues to be a challenge but remains a priority”. “Recently the NZDF has successfully deployed NH90s to the Solomon Islands and the Air Force is ready to deploy internationally again when directed by [the] Government, acknowledging that crew numbers required to sustain longer deployments remains an issue.”
A spokeswoman for Defence Minister Judith Collins told Newsroom work was underway on a new defence capability plan, which would provide the Government with a range of options (including indicative timings and costs) for new investments. The Defence Force was also developing a workforce strategy to determine its future size, shape and composition, while transitioning the military to “modern personnel management practices”.newsroom.co.nz/2024/03/06/nzdf-opts-against-buying-australian-helicopters/
|
|