In December this year a 10 year sustainment contract will come into effect for the MRH-90 Helicopter with the delivery of the first two helicopters to the Australian Defence Forces (ADF).

The Defence decision to sustain the MRH 90 in-country brings with it the potential of additional business for Australian industry because regional allies have recently procured a similar capability.

The New Zealand (NZ) Defence Forces have purchased nine NATO Helicopter Industries NH 90 helicopters, eight for use and one for spares, and are yet to establish a sustainment contract.

Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) Program Director, Mark Remmers, said the MRH 90 is an ‘Australianised’ version of the NH 90 and the differences between the Australian capability and that procured by NZ are minimal, with the ADF effectively purchasing 46 military off the shelf products, which reduced risk and development time.

The DMO project includes a $1.2 billion ‘Australian industry capability package’ that focuses on state of the art composite construction, avionics, turbine engine assembly and maintenance, and ongoing software support.

Mr Remmers said that is it likely that the NZ Government will be looking for synergies with the Australian program as far as sustainment, support and training are concerned.

Further progress was made towards the delivery of Australia ’s MRH 90 capability last month, with the first helicopter, of the 46 MRH 90 DMO is purchasing, undertaking its maiden flight in Marignane, France on schedule.

The aircraft flew for 1.5 hours on 28 March and the Eurocopter test crew were delighted with its performance especially the lack of vibration in the aircraft.

‘This is a significant achievement in the history of the AIR 9000 program and the hard work and dedication of all involved from the Commonwealth, Australian Aerospace and Eurocopter is acknowledged,’ he said.

Mr Remmers said the first flight milestone is a major step towards ensuring DMO and industry are on schedule to deliver the capability the ADF requires.

‘It gives the program a high level of confidence that aircraft assembly is on schedule and that the first MRH 90 will be available for flying and maintenance training after the team in France complete ground school,’ he said.

‘The project looks set to deliver the first two MRH 90 at in service date on 18 December this year, meeting the Defence White Paper requirement, set in December 2000.

‘Three more MRH 90 will be delivered in 2008 and then seven to eight per year until 2014. Deliveries of Australian Assembled helicopters will commence in December 2008.

‘And preliminary stage training is set to commence in France on 4 June 2007, with a team of 30 including Army and Navy pilots, engineers and maintenance crew travelling to Marignane,’ he said.

Mr Remmers said the scope of the AIR 9000 project and the limited team size makes these achievements significant.

‘AIR 9000 is purchasing up to three MRH 90 simulators, where as, in previous helicopter procurements such as the Black Hawk the purchase of a simulator has been a project in its own right. This gives the project team a lot of extra development work to cover,’ he said.

The Government announced acquisition of 12 MRH-90 additional Troop Lift Helicopters for Army in August 2004, to bolster Australia ’s counter terrorism capabilities by releasing a Blackhawk squadron to provide dedicated support to our Special Forces on the east coast. AIR 9000 was in contract for these aircraft on 2 June 2005.

In June 2006, the Government announced the acquisition of an additional 34 MRH-90 to replace Army’s Blackhawks and Navy’s Sea Kings. The Air 9000 project team processed contract change proposals which brought the project value, for the total acquisition of 46 aircraft and all the associated support systems including a training system, to around $4.2 billion.

‘We are focused on establishing an initial operating capability for Navy with replacement of the Sea Kings, to be achieved by mid 2010,’ Mr Remmers said.

‘The role out of the initial Navy capability will proceed with one helicopter- sea cleared for daylight operations for a period of 30 days, increasing to two MRH 90s at sea for 90 days by end 2011. I anticipate that the third helicopter for Navy will become available to go to sea in 2012.

‘Army’s initial operating capability is planned for mid 2011. It will start with delivery of the capability to A Squadron of the 5 th Aviation Regiment in Townsville,’ Mr Remmers said.