Both the US Navy and Eurocopter/Australian Aerospace submitted their bids for the Australian Navy’s future combat helicopter requirement under AIR 9000 Ph.8 on 23 July.
The new aircraft will possess advanced antisubmarine warfare capabilities along with an ability to fire air-to-surface missiles.
The US Navy responded to an Australian FMS request for 24 Sikorksy MH -60R Seahawks which will be supplied by Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky under the Team Romeo banner.
Eurocopter/Australian Aerospace is offering the NH90 NFH variant of the MRH 90 already delivered to the Australian Navy and Army.
According to media reports Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky have been attempting to negotiate industrial packages worth in total about $1 billion to counter the local economic benefits of assembling the NH90 NFH at the Australian Aerospace facility at Brisbane Airport.
The ADM team was sufficiently intrigued to ask Defence Public Affairs whether there were any examples of notification to the US Congress of a possible sale not being followed by an actual sale?
Their response: “There have been several examples of Australian FMS requests not being acquired, although there is no definitive historic data.
“The most recent example of an Australian FMS request not being acquired was the fourth Aegis system as part of the Air Warfare Destroyer Project.
“The Government will continue to monitor and assess its capability needs against strategic assessments.
“As a consequence, the Government will continue to assess the capability need for a fourth AWD in the future against further changes in the strategic assessment and, consistent with that assessment the most rational public investment in further defence platforms.
“In the AIR 9000 Phase 8 case, this matter is not strictly relevant as there have been very few competitions where a tender has been issued together with a Foreign Military Sales request.
“AIR 9000 Phase 8 is a genuine competition with two legitimate contenders available through different sales mechanisms.”