A full diagnostic review of the MRH-90 Multi Role Helicopter Program has now been completed.
Minister for defence Stephen Smith and minister for defence materiel Jason Clare ordered the review in February to address delays to the project.
It was chaired by deputy CEO of the Defence Materiel Organisation, Warren King with a number of independent specialists.
The review has recommended that the project should not be added to the Project of Concern list at this time, but it has recommended that Defence workwith the contractor, Australian Aerospace, to implement a plan to improve the availability of the helicopters by addressing engineering and reliability issues.
The project will be the subject of a further diagnostic review later this year to examine the effectiveness of the action taken and whether further action is necessary.
The diagnostic review was ordered to address delays to the project due to a series of key issues including engine failure, transmission oil cooler fan failures and the poor availability of spares.
As reported in both the Defence Annual Report and the ANAO Major Project Report released last year, the project has suffered delays of 12 months for the Navy’s helicopters and 18 months for the Army’s helicopters.
To date, 13 MRH-90 helicopters have been accepted by Defence and are currently being used for testing and initial crew training.
Comment: Given that a decision on the naval helicopter replacement project under Air 9000 Ph 8 is imminent (and the term is used in the loosest sense), one could contend that anything that disrupted the competition would not be the best look for the DMO.
But ADM also notes that Sweden, a nation that operates the TTH version of the NH90, chose to go with 15 Black Hawk variants for Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) & MEDEVAC missions in Afghanistan last month.
The FMS case paperwork was lodged in September last year and negotiations are in their final stages.
Sweden’s 13 TTH’s were even ordered in a “high cabin” configuration that’s especially well suited to CSAR and MEDEVAC operations, and Eurocopter had unveiled a German NH90-TTH MEDEVAC kit in June 2010.
On the otherhand, the NH90 has been plagued by slow deliveries, and slower certification and acceptance with numerous customers.