Originally Posted by
minigundiplomat
This comes in short succession after we bought 6 H135 from Airbus, also single sourced, and then found we didn't need them. WTAF is going on at DE&S?
Also, the rationale for single sourcing the H145 was, according to DE&S, that it was 'an accepted type' - yes, it was accepted to be operated under a civilian CAMO and operated for training in LFA1 and slightly beyond, not SAR/EMS and Jungle Ops in hot n high environments.
The 135 decision was not down to DE&S, that was a ministerial call.
The 145 operates with other Forces in tropical environments and at high altitude, it's not a new platform.
If anything it shows we can actually get stuff done without the nonsense that is prevalent under "normal" procurement time lines and bureaucracy. The alternative was to wait for NMH which would have likely been more unsuitable than 145 in those environments, and far more expensive.