The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) has formally signed a Deed
of undertaking with Australian Aerospace
and their industry partners that will help put the MRH90 helicopter program back on a positive footing.
The MRH90 program is three years late and has experienced a number
of technical and commercial challenges and is currently on the Government’s Projects of Concern list.
The signed agreement will re-baseline the project’s schedule and
settle a number of disputed program issues.
As agreed last year, Australian Aerospace is already developing
and implementing a range of technical fixes that will ensure the MRH90s being
delivered to Army and Navy are reliable and effective.
The agreement signed between the parties also covers a number of
commercial and contractual measures that will make the MRH90 more affordable
and increase confidence in the revised delivery schedule.
Included the agreement is the delivery of a 47th aircraft, at no
additional cost, to be used as a live training aid for Army and Navy aviation
technicians who undergo MRH90 training at the Army’s Aviation Maintenance
school at Oakey, Queensland.
With continued progress, the MRH90 program will be considered for
removal from the Projects of Concern list by the end of 2013.