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Airbus Helicopters to support Puma in £320m MOD contract
September 7, 2023
The Ministry of Defence has released details
regarding the extension of a contract with Airbus Helicopters UK Ltd.
This comes from a recent tender notice,
labelled as the “Puma HC2 Follow-On Support Arrangement PP3 CF VTN”.
The contract specifically pertains to support for the Puma Mk2 helicopter.
The current agreement will be extended “for a period of up to three years – 31 March 2028”.
This deal, valued at a substantial £320 million, covers services from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028.
https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/ ... until-2028
The UK Defense Ministry plans to contract with Airbus Helicopters
to support its Puma rotorcraft until 2028,
as the ministry continues to delay launching a tender for a fleet successor.
Documents published by the department on Sept. 6 , 2023
say it plans to sole-source contract Airbus Helicopters UK
to support the fleet for an additional three years from 2025 to the end of March 2028.
Although the documents say the contract’s value could be as much as £320 million ($400 million),
Airbus officials tell the actual cost will be a “fraction of that,”
in part because of an expected additional fleet reduction.
The need to extend the Puma fleet appears likely
as a result of the ministry decision
to proceed with the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) program
to find a replacement for the Puma and several other UK helicopter fleets.
Although the program was formally launched in May 2022
and three contenders—Airbus, Leonardo Helicopters and Lockheed Martin Sikorsky—
were downselected earlier this year,
the companies are still awaiting a formal invitation to tender.
Industry is now expecting that milestone in October 2023,
13 months later than planned.
That would push back the in-service date of the selected aircraft beyond 2025, the original date.
Original documents called for the NMH program
to acquire around 44 helicopters to replace the Airbus Puma and Dauphin and Bell 212 and 412 fleets.
But industry officials are now expecting the actual number of aircraft to be 25-35.
Airbus is proposing a militarized version of its H175 super-medium helicopter to be produced in North Wales,
while Leonardo has been promoting its AW149 platform, which would be assembled at its Yeovil, England, facility.
Lockheed Martin is planning to offer its S-70M Black Hawk built in Poland
but modified and supported in the UK.
Lockheed is expected to provide more details on its proposals at the DSEI defense exposition here starting Sept. 12.
The program is seen as the first major UK defense offering
to follow the guidelines set by the government’s Defense and Security Industrial Strategy,
which calls on bidders to provide a focus on social value as part of their bids.
It is understood that part of the delay to the launching of the tender has been
understanding how best to define and score that social value.