It was said that in trials held for the purpose the Puma was found to be totally unsuitable for wet winching due to the alleged very heavy downdraught. But we found that it was possible to pin a dinghy down in the centre of it and winch from surprisingly low heights.
Compared to the downwash under an S92 or a AW 189 I should think it was relatively mild - they just hover higher to mitigate the problem.
The use of the Puma in Brunei and Cyprus at least gives the MoD time to save up some money to get helicopters properly suited to the roles - so they'll still be there in 10 years time
