Issue 353: Battle Rhythm

The MRH-90 Taipan’s long journey to success

By most reasonable measures, the Australian Defence Force’s MRH90 acquisition project and service entry process for the Australian Army and Royal Australian Navy has been a long and painful one.

Technical issues, contractual disagreements, order cancellations and service entry delays in European partner nations, multiple sub-variants and production lines leading to inconsistent spares and logistics support, and an adverse Australian national Audit Office (ANAO) report have all resulted in consistent bad press for the MRH90, and a general perception that is unloved by its operators.