Originally Posted by
pitchlink1
With 47 MRH90 each flying 300 hours per year and retirement is cut short with 30 years that equals 423 000 FH. The proposed saving of $2,7 billion divided by the FH gives a saving of $6k per FH. With a reported hourly cost of MRH90 of $50k per FH (which resonates well with other 90 users) and the FH cost of Hawks is $4-6k a saving of $6k/FH seems very conservative. Hence, the saving from early retirement is not $2,7 billion but three or four times that number. Possibly higher that $15 billion. Even if you add in the procurement cost of the new helicopters of $2,5 billion the saving is very substantial. Add better availability and less frustration and you have a extremely good case.
I'm sorry, why 30 years early? Isn't expected retirement, at least in the article you reference, set at 2037? That is 14 years away. That would be 197,400 hours.
I remember he Seasprite fiasco in RAN and how well they same airframe was operating in NZ. Looks to the same again with the -90.