Rotor Torque

The Australian ARH development of the Eurocopter Tiger is configured as an armed reconnaissance platform carrying a 30mm nose-mounted cannon, 70mm rockets and AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles. Defence ordered 22 Tigers in 2001 under Project Air 87, and is using the aircraft to replace its Bell 206B-1 Kiowas and (retired) UH-1H Iroquois gunship capability. Most of the Tigers are assigned to the 1st Aviation Regiment in Darwin.

French Army Tigers have seen extensive service in Afghanistan since 2009 and in Libya this year.

Production of the Australian aircraft was marred by several setbacks. Defence suspended payments for the project in 2007 due to a series of delays largely blamed on the protracted Franco-German Tiger program. Payments resumed a year later.

The program also faced controversy in 2010 after media reports quoted Defence sources saying the helicopter was not suitable for deployment to Afghanistan because it could not fly at night, due to issues with its lighting.

“The Tiger ARH has been a complex and demanding program and one not without its fair share of challenges,” Australian Aerospace CEO Jen Goennemann said. “But extensive collaboration and a cooperative approach by Australian Aerospace, our industry partners and the various ADF branches involved has been a significant contributor to where we proudly stand today.”

Most of the Tigers were assembled at Australian Aerospace’s Brisbane facility, and the company remains responsible for program management and through-life-support.

Mrh 90 Hits Projects Of Concern List

Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare have announced that the Project Air 9000 Phase 2, 4 and 6 programs to provide Army and Navy with 46 new MRH90 helicopters to replace Black Hawk and Sea King machines respectively has been added to Government’s projects of concern list.

Despite reaching an agreement with prime contractor Australian Aerospace on a remediation plan for the project on November 24, the recommendation by Acting CEO of the DMO Warren King that the project be put on the list has been accepted by the Ministers. In a statement, the Ministers said the project is running late primarily due to significant technical issues which have triggered early indicators and warnings thresholds for schedule and contractor performance, resulting in delays of about two years, and there remains a risk that the program will be further delayed.

In April this year, the project underwent a comprehensive independent diagnostic Gate Review which recommended a remediation strategy which was agreed to by Australian Aerospace, followed by a second review in September and October.

With its Sea Kings due to retire in December, Navy has undertaken to generate an additional flight from its already stretched Seahawk fleet to cover any capability short falls, while Army’s Black Hawk fleet will also be extended.

Two days after being added the list, Australian Aerospace resumed deliveries of the MRH90 when it handed over the 14th machine under a new agreement which took effect from November 24.

Brunei Selects S-70i

Brunei’s Ministry of Defence has announced that it has selected the Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk for the Royal Brunei Armed Forces Support Helicopter Project.

The project will supply 12 S-70is to replace the current fleet of Bell 212 and BO105 machines. The S-70i is the current international version of Sikorsky’s Black Hawk combining capabilities of the UH-60L and newer UH-60M models, and is manufactured by PZL in Poland.

The helicopters are expected to be delivered to Brunei from 2013 to 2015.

Eurocopter Enhances Logistics Chain

Eurocopter has announced the inauguration of its new logistics platform at its Marignane headquarters near Marseille in France.
The company says the investments made over the past two years to develop the systems will enable Eurocopter to reduce both logistics costs and delivery cycles, so that the company’s assembly lines, customers and industrial partners will receive their parts much faster. To this end, the incoming flows and industrial logistics have been centralised at Marignane, while the outgoing flows and spare part deliveries have all been grouped together at a brand-new platform located at the nearby Florides industrial park.

“When we undertook this huge project to overhaul our logistics chain, our biggest challenge was to keep providing our customers with the same high levels of services—plus we couldn’t allow our work to have any impact on the production lines,” Executive Vice President of Eurocopter’s Global Supply Chain and former head of Australian Aerospace, Joseph Saporito said in a statement. “We completed the job right on schedule, and are already beginning to reap the benefits in terms of customer satisfaction and competitiveness.”

New Zealand Receives A109 Simulator

The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) accepted into commission a new flight simulator complex for its new AgustaWestland A109LUH helicopters at its Ohakea base on November 23.

The simulator will provide the RNZAF with a means of training A109 aircrew and those destined to fly the NH90 and SH2G helicopters, and provides significant financial savings as the operating cost of the simulator is approximately 10 per cent of the A109 helicopter operating cost.

“The A109 simulator and accompanying Virtual Interactive Procedure Trainer are critical components of the newly introduced integrated training system for future New Zealand Defence Force helicopter aircrew,” said Chief of Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Stockwell. “The simulator cost EUR9.3 million and it has an expected service life of at least 30 years. It will provide approximately 1400 hours of training per year but it has the capacity to provide in excess of twice this, if required. At the planned rate, the simulator will effectively pay for itself in less than five years.”

First Kiwi Nh90s Delivered

The first two of eight NH90 helicopters for the RNZAF have been delivered via Antonov An-124 to Ohakea Air Base.

Like the ADF’s MRH 90 program, the New Zealand program is currently running about two years late due to delays in the German and French NH90 TTH programs.

Kevin McMahon, assistant secretary of the Defence Force acquisition division told local media that the delay was frustrating. “I have to say that we’re not the only customer of NH90 helicopters that has had delays, he told The Southland Times. “Indeed, if you have a look around the world at most complex military programs, you will see that very few of them actually run right on time.”

Briefs

Brisbane Airport Corporation and RACQ CareFlight announced on December 7 a new partnership which will see BAC become a major sponsor of the not-for-profit community rescue helicopter service. As part of the new affiliation, BAC will reimburse all landing fees at Brisbane Airport equating to $15,000 to $20,000 per year.

Hawker Pacific has added Bell 429 helicopter services to its maintenance and support facility at Bankstown. Three of the light twin-engine helicopters are due to arrive in Australia next year as part of the Royal Australian Navy RMI 2 program. The company said another 429 is due to be delivered to a corporate customer in Sydney in December, and one is already in service in New Zealand.

Australian Helicopters temporarily ‘modified’ a number of its machines in November with a moustache for the annual Movember charity fund raising initiative to support men’s health issues. This year saw staff and aircraft on Queensland health, Customs and Boarder Protection, Air Ambulance Victoria and charter contracts all get involved.