Australia Ditches EU Taipans

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FD2
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Australia Ditches EU Taipans

#1 Post by FD2 » Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:08 pm

Australia ditches entire fleet of EU's Taipan helicopters after history of embarrassing flaws

The bloc's defence ambitions suffer another blow less than three months after Australia cancelled a deal to buy French submarines
By Our Foreign Staff 10 December 2021 • 11:39am


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/ ... liable-us/

RAN MRH90 Taipan.png
RAN MRH90 Taipan.png (582.11 KiB) Viewed 219 times

Royal Australian Navy aircrew from the 808 Squadron, stand beside their MRH90 Taipan helicopter in Wollongong, Australia Credit: Royal Australian Air Force

Australia's military said Friday it plans to ditch its fleet of European-designed Taipan helicopters and instead buy US Black Hawks and Seahawks because the American machines are more reliable.

The move comes less than three months after Australia cancelled a deal to buy French submarines in favour of building nuclear-powered submarines that use US and British technology in a switch that deeply angered France.

Australia bought 47 Airbus-designed Taipan helicopters to replace their Black Hawk and Sea King fleets but the multi-billion-dollar acquisition has been listed as a “project of concern” since 2011.

The Taipans were supposed to last until 2037 but the helicopters have been plagued with problems.

In 2019 the entire fleet was grounded due to concerns over the tail rotor blades and in 2020, 27 choppers were grounded to repair sliding door rails.

Australia will now stop using them and buy 40 Lockheed Martin-designed helicopters instead, in a switch that will cost £3.8 billion.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia was improving its defence capabilities and had built good partnerships, particularly with the US.

"The Taipans weren't meeting their marks. Simple as that," Morrison said. "And we want to make sure that our defence forces have the best possible equipment to defend this country, and the Black Hawks will provide that."

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the Black Hawks are much cheaper to fly and that officials have had concerns about the Taipan program for the past decade.

"It's had nine instances where it's been unsuitable to fly, and I'm just not going to put our people in that position," Dutton said.


He said the new helicopters would bring Australia's fleet more in line with that of the US, an important consideration given the instability in the region.

China has previously expressed anger over Australia's submarine switch and said it was irresponsible of the US and Britain to export their nuclear technology.

Opposition politicians said the Australian government had wasted billions of dollars on poor decisions around many of its defence contracts.



I think the RNZAF MH90s have also given quite a few problems as well.

If the aircraft isn't up to the job then it should be returned as unfit for purpose. I dare say the manufacturers Airbus promised all sorts of amazing things in their sales pitch!

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Re: Australia Ditches EU Taipans

#2 Post by PHXPhlyer » Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:16 pm

Caveat emptor!

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Re: Australia Ditches EU Taipans

#3 Post by FD2 » Fri Dec 10, 2021 8:33 pm

There was also a big problem with the Kaman SH-2G Seasprite order. They were promised that all the things the RAN wanted could be shoe-horned into the machine but it turned out to be untrue and there was another great waste of money. The RNZN also ordered some but with a lower spec and they are still in service, but the RAN order was cancelled in 2007, six years after the anticipated delivery date was missed.

https://www.australiandefence.com.au/5F ... 50568C22C9
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaman_SH- ... _Seasprite

The MOD in the UK had a requirement for a three engined helicopter (so the failure of one engine would not mean the failure of the mission). The European Helicopter Industries 01 became the EH101 and from first flight in 1987 to in-service took 12 years!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AgustaWestland_AW101

Caveat emptor indeed but common sense should rule the specification!

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