Merlin Helicopters Pulled Out Of Afghanistan

[HaveQuick2]

Merlin Helicopters Pulled Out Of Afghanistan (http://news.sky.com/story/1098947/merlin-helicopters-pulled-out-of-Afghanistan)

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent
After four years flying in Afghanistan the British fleet of Merlin helicopters has completed its final mission and is being readied to leave the country early.
The announcement is the latest development in the UK's phased withdrawal from Afghanistan.
During their time serving in the conflict the helicopters have flown in excess of 18,000 hours, moved more than 7,900 tons of kit and stores, and transported over 130,000 personnel.
Engineers will now clean and dismantle the helicopters so they can be flown back to their base at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire on C-17 transport planes.
Commenting on the announcement, Group Captain Frazer Nicholson, the Commander of the Joint Aviation Group, based in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, said: "In 2010, we required more than 2,300 helicopter hours a month and now that number has dropped by around 40%.
"We are now able to redeploy the Merlin from theatre as we simply do not need the helicopter capacity we currently have."

[dervish]

So who is carrying out the 1400 hours per month still needed that Merlin used to do?

[Thomas coupling]

Read Frazer's statement: there is no longer the demand...the lads are coming home.:D

[Tourist]

Thank you gentlemen, please try not to dent them on the way home, we'll look after them now....:p

[Thomas coupling]

what's the latest downtime ratio for Merlin's now? It was around the 1hr airborne:45hr maintenance level. After handing the Mk3's over to the senior service, how many serviceable cabs remaining for future 'secondary' tasks?:mad:

[wokkamate]

were they in Afghanistan? :p

[Chinny Crewman]

Wokkamate, apparently so; they managed to lift just under half a ton and fly 7.2 pax per hour flown apparently (but not at the same time)

[GreenKnight121]

Group Captain Frazer Nicholson, the Commander of the Joint Aviation Group, based in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, said: "In 2010, we required more than 2,300 helicopter hours a month and now that number has dropped by around 40%.

So ~1,380 helicopter hours per month still needed.


So who is carrying out the 1400 hours per month still needed that Merlin used to do?

Chinook & Puma for the RAF, Lynx for the Army & RN, Sea King for the RN.


Read Frazer's statement: there is no longer the demand...the lads are coming home.

You re-read Fraser's statement... they still need 60% of "2,300 helicopter hours per month"... or the 1,400 hours dervish was asking about.

[JFZ90]

given this drop in demand, do we still need the new chinooks?

[Just This Once...]

Yes this is bound to be the last war where Chinooks would be handy and every audit to date has said how flush we are for RW lift. So yes, scrap the lot.

Err… nurse...

[TheWizard]

Chinook & Puma for the RAF, Lynx for the Army & RN, Sea King for the RN.



Eh?? In Afghanistan?? I doubt it!

[dervish]

Thanks GK121, that's the way I read it.

But how many hours will remain on the cabs that we're left with? Is it wise to boast Merlin force can do 2300 hours a mont? I can see the argument coming with a beancunter on one side saying "chop the numbers", and the RAF on the other pleading "sustainability."

[Finnpog]

The article also points out that the remaining lift will come from the other british helies in theatre and Afghan and ISAF colleagues.

Also this bit as the last three sentences/paragraphs

After their return to RAF Benson the Merlins will join the rest of the Merlin Force in the ongoing transition of the aircraft to Joint Helicopter Command's Royal Navy Commando Helicopter Force.

The maritime force is trained and equipped for expeditionary joint operations and the Merlins will be prepared for their new role in supporting amphibious operations.

RAF personnel are currently training the Royal Navy aircrew and engineers on the operation and maintenance of the helicopter, which is due to move to a maritime role by 2015.



I guess a draw down from Sea King will realise more savings earlier.

[Davef68]

Is it wise to boast Merlin force can do 2300 hours a mont?

I don't think he does. As I read it, what he means is:

"In 2010, the requirement from the British SH force was 2,300 hours per month. We were unable to meet this with just Chinooks, so we deployed the Merlins as well. Now, that demand has fallen by 40%, we can meet it just using the deployed Chinook force"

[Ricorigs]

Dave,

I think that the good Group Captain is referring to the whole fleet of the joint aviation group in Bastion.

So in 2010 it was Sea Kings (Mk4/7), Apache, Lynx, Merlins and Chinooks.

I doubt the SH fleet would fly 2300 hours a month on their own.

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

Chinook & Puma for the RAF


I don't think there are many RAF Pumas in Afghanistan at the moment...

[Not_a_boffin]

Or in the air anywhere....

[Door Slider]

Apart from almost everyday at Boscombe Down

[Not_a_boffin]

many RAF Pumas

The key word being "many"........hope the ones at Boscombe are busy

[dragartist]

Assume the Pumas at Boscombe will be the Mk2s?

Always wondered what a Puma could do that a Merlin could not?

From what I have seen and my Boy told me (he did a tour on Apache at Bastion) the Chinook has been/is brilliant.

I don't suppose I am qualified to comment but I figure Merlin was more a "make work task" for Westland. More about politics than aerodynamics. please tell me otherwise. Yes there are green ones, grey ones and Danish ones.

[TheWizard]

Always wondered what a Puma could do that a Merlin could not?

Be underslung by a Chinook? :}

[Evalu8ter]

Drag,
Only RAF Pumas flying in the UK are Mk2s; being flown by the CTT prior to RTS. The clearance to fly the Mk1 has been withdrawn.

Puma can fit into a smaller place than Merlin, and in Mk2 guise will offer better performance in some environments. Ultimately, it's a smaller cabin.

Your boy is quite correct; the Chinook is brilliant (but I may be a tad biased there...)

Merlin Mk3 was totally a 'make work' project; the RAF/Army wanted more Chinook which were cheaper to buy at the time. The then Tory Govt, looking at marginal seats in the SW, over-ruled the military advice and forced the Mk3 purchase to partially make up for a drastically cut Merlin Mk1 buy.

It's done a good job, and if we didn't have Chinook it would seem a great aircraft - in avionics terms it is, it's just top end 'grunt' that lets it down.

[tucumseh]

The question is, does it satisfy the original endorsed requirement? That is, replace the Sea King HAS Mk6 in the ASW role, while reducing ASW embarked Squadron size from 8 to 5; and augment Sea King HC Mk4 role, which could no longer meet "simultaneous two Company lift of Royal Marines". The latter became academic when Government decided we didn't need the original "lift" requirement and the Merlin Mk1 buy was more than halved (as noted by elalu8ter).

I agree the RAF Mk3 buy then became political, partly to "make up" the Merlin numbers given the original development costs were no longer being amortised over 108 cabs, but the old SABR programme must be considered as well. There was significant and successful RAF lobbying for Chinook. But ultimately these bigger decisions are taken out of the hands of MoD by the likes of the DTI. It is an age old argument; do you spread your largesse around or create a monopoly? Be glad that on aircraft, the contracts are usually awarded to companies who actually make the things and could be bothered to bid for the job. There's nothing worse than running a tender for 2 years then being told to award the contract to some cowboy outfit in a marginal constituency who hadn't bid, and having to slash capability as you need to let a second contract on someone competent to sort out the cock-ups.

[Senior Pilot]

The question is, does it satisfy the original endorsed requirement? That is, replace the Sea King HAS Mk6 in the ASW role

The original requirement for the WG34 was in 1977, when the Sea King HAS2 was just being created after years of operating the HAS1. A far cry from replacing the HAS6, even though that is what it eventually achieved ;)

[tucumseh]

Thanks Senior Pilot. I actually meant to say HAS Mk5 - I didn't realise the earlier requirement was for the whole aircraft. When I say "endorsed", I usually think of the time when production money is committed because my job at the time was to staff the Admiralty Board Submissions. I know Merlin's avionics required a Mid Life Upgrade long before the airframe was available, as funding had been released to develop much if it early, shortly after the Falklands War. Some of it underwent a major upgrade in 1983/4. My last Merlin task was completed in 1989, then I moved on to newer stuff, like HAS Mk6! Mk5 and Mk6 benefited from old Merlin work, which aligns with what you say.

[SASless]

One Civilian Helicopter logged 270 flying hours in a single month in Afghanistan....so what is the big deal about 2300 hours in a month for a fleet of helicopters? But then Logging Helicopter Companies are used to high hour usage of their machines over long periods of time.

DOD Contracts Keep U.S. Helicopter Operators Busy in Afghanistan | Aviation International News (http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2013-06-03/dod-contracts-keep-us-helicopter-operators-busy-afghanistan)