Originally Posted by
EESDL
So - Leonardo have been pushing an O&G machine painted black and calling it a mil-spec helicopter - that has yet to start out on the military specification journey and only meets 50% of KURs required by Army. The price will be eye-watering for a basic airframe and long-term costs will no doubt be significantly higher and designed to extract the pi55.
Political blackmail raises its ugly head and we end up ordering brand new helicopters for a ‘stop-gap’ measure that will be over before they are up-to-speed - with the promise of an overseas company pumping billions into SW of England which, if previous history repeats itself, will never arrive.
all the while there is the option of purchasing updated ‘pre-loved’ alternative that is battle proven, out performs the new guys, half the price and can be produced in UK - and we still wonder why procurement is in a state??
AW149 is a mil-spec helicopter originally designed to meet a (Turkish) military requirement. It is in military service with Thailand and Egypt.
The Egyptian AW149s have even operated from their Mistral-class carriers.
So how exactly does this aircraft still need to start a milspec journey?
And since the MoD have thus far failed to issue a requirement, which are the 50% of KURs that it doesn't meet?