2024: the Australian NH-90 Taipan helicopters. Scrappings, no donations to Ukraine, and other updates on the MRH-90s...

[Stratofreighter]

...as not all readers on this forum
seem to look at the Helispot News forum at Scramble,
I am posting this thread over here.

A rather well-written feature
on the Australian NH-90 Taipan MRH-90 scrappings - and burials,

plus the refusal to donate these no-longer-airworthy airframes to Ukraine
can be found at

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/a ... pter-fleet

PUBLISHED
JAN 24, 2024 7:06 PM EST

Over the past few months, the Australian Army has been ridding itself of its retired fleet
of problematic NHIndustries NH-90 Tactical Transport Helicopters (TTH)
by deliberately wrecking and literally burying the remnants.

Now Ukraine has upped the stakes with a formal request for whatever is left of the unloved helicopters.

The source also provided imagery and video still captures
of at least six of the already wrecked-beyond-recovery NH-90 airframes,
which have been stripped to their carbon composite frames,
before being dumped at an Australian Army compound
within the joint Australian Defense Force operating facility
at Royal Australian Air Force base Amberley
in the north-eastern Australian state of Queensland.

Responding to Ukraine,
the Australian government formally rejected its request for the helicopters on January 16
after enduring another embarrassing social media battle
with Ukraine’s adeptly mobilized online supporters over the helicopters.

“Some months after that process began (the cannibalization and disposal of the NH90s),
Ukraine made a formal request for the MRH-90s.

It will require considerable taxpayers’ money and time to get those aircraft back into flying conditions.
And I should also make the point
that there are multiple crash investigations still going on right now
to determine the cause of that tragic accident in Queensland.

So it would be irresponsible for us
to move away from the disposal strategy that we’ve locked on in,”
Australian Minister of Defense Industry Pat Conroy stated in an explanation of the rejection of General Budanov’s request.

Unfortunately for Ukraine,
Australia’s demolition of its NH-90 TTH fleet had progressed too far
to even consider the option of donation to Ukraine’s war effort.

According to our source, only one airframe,
the 47th and final delivery, A40-047,
will survive the fleet destruction and disposal.

Aussie Taipan A40-047 was delivered to the Australian Defense Force
as part of a negotiated settlement between the Australian Government and NH-90 manufacturer NHIndustries
in compensation for the large number of design and reliability issue fixes
experienced by the Australians in the initial years of NH-90 Introduction into Service.


Taipan A40-047, which had only flown around 500 hours,
has been sold back to prime contractor NHIndustries in Europe
where it will be employed within the manufacturer’s training and test fleet.

...and
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/a ... h90-helico
provides much more details on the Australian MRH-90 Taipan saga, past, present, and if possible the future....

[Stratofreighter]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEYMovGb9ys

1 feb 2024 #7NEWS
New pictures have emerged of the Taipan helicopters,
which are to be stripped,
and eventually buried as landfill by the Australian Army.

Ukraine was begging to take the unwanted choppers off our hands.

[Stratofreighter]

https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.ne ... height=485

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/17571250 ... format=jpg

Dismantled Taipan helicopters inside a Townsville Army maintenance storage facility. (Supplied: ADBR)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-13/ ... /103456586

Leaked photo reveals dismantled Taipans waiting in warehouse for burial, reigniting frustrations not to send aircraft to Ukraine

Posted Mon 12 Feb 2024 at 7:33pm

A leaked photograph of the Australian Army's now dismantled Taipan helicopters awaiting burial
has reignited frustrations over Canberra's decision
to bury the aircraft underground rather than donate them to Ukraine.

Aviation experts say the image taken recently from inside a Townsville hangar
proves the aircraft could be easily restored to an airworthy condition,
but former pilots warn donating the helicopters to Ukraine
would be handing over a "poisoned chalice".

"These 27 aircraft in the Townsville maintenance storage facility
are in far less a state of disassembly than what takes place during normal deep maintenance,"
a defence engineer insisted.

"Most airframes have their landing gear still installed, main gearbox and rotors head," the Taipan specialist told the ABC,
speaking on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter.

"The only real issue in reassembling is that many components would have exceeded their calendar-based maintenance intervals."

The Defence Department last week
told the ABC that "disassembly of the MRH-90 fleet is well advanced and no aircraft are in flying condition"
with many parts already sold off to other global users of the platform.

Now the Australian Army Aviation Association (AAAA)
has issued a public statement to hit back
at suggestions the Taipans should be reassembled and sent to Europe to help the Ukrainian war effort.

"From the outset, Australia would be gifting a poisoned chalice,"
president Charlie Barton said
in response to a recent offer by army veterans and engineers to help restore the aircraft.

"If Australia was not capable of keeping the MRH to a flying status
that enabled even the minimum acceptable flying rates of effort to keep aircrew competent,
what chance does a country at-war,
with limited people and resources have?"

"There is nothing simple about 'turning a few spinners'
when it comes to an all-composite, digital fly-by-wire helicopter," Mr Barton said.

"Australian soldiers and sailors worked so hard to make the fleet successful,
yet even that wasn't enough."

Last-ditch offer to divert Taipans to help Ukraine
Army veterans and engineers who once worked on Australia's now grounded fleet of Taipan helicopters
are volunteering to rebuild the aircraft
so they can be sent to Ukraine rather than be buried in an expensive disposal process.


The AAAA also pointed to how many European nations including Belgium, Sweden, Norway,
and Greece
which operate similar NH-90 fleets, were now retiring the complex aircraft.

"Of the 14 nations that bought NH90, four are completely withdrawing their NH90s and one is withdrawing half," Mr Barton argues.

"Have we asked why Germany, Belgium, Sweden or Norway are not offering to donate their NH-90s?"

"A country at war needs reliable equipment that is guaranteed to operate and be battle-ready. I would contest that the NH-90 is neither."

On Friday Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy told reporters the Taipans were no longer in flying condition and would require a huge expenditure of time and resources to get them back.

"The best value for money option for the Commonwealth was to sell the spare parts and dispose of the rest of the asset, and I'll refer you to what the Ukrainian ambassador said: It's time to move on."