Helicopter Shortage Putting Pressure on Defence
Aerospace News
A shortage of medium and heavy lift battlefield helicopters is undermining current operations say the House of Commons Defence Select Committee in this report entitled, ‘Helicopter capability’.
The committee found that operational commanders in the field today are unable to undertake potentially valuable operations because of the lack of helicopters for transportation around the theatre of operations. The Committee is also critical of the plan to extend the lives of Sea King and Puma to bridge the capability gap that will exist before the introduction of the Future Medium Helicopter in about ten years’ time. Given the age of these fleets and the poor survivability of the Puma, extending their lives at considerable cost is not the best option, either operationally or in terms of the use of public money.
The Committee does not believe that the planned Life Extension Programmes will provide adequate capability or value for the taxpayer. Only a procurement of new helicopters can meet the original objective of reducing the number of types of helicopter in service within the UK Armed Forces. The Report also notes the improvements in availability of key helicopters in theatre such as Chinook, which have benefited from closer working between industry and the Armed Forces. However, the Committee says that in the longer term, the increased availability and improved maintenance will be no substitute for additional capacity. “Adequate capability is also a question of numbers of airframes”, says the Report.
Published by G&O Springs - Producing springs for the aerospace industry
September 30, 2009
