I have nothing to do with the Puma so didn’t take it personally. I am just sick of all the people that think all our SH lift problems can be resolved by purchasing an all Chinook superfleet. Yes it is a brilliant aircraft and one we could scarcely do without, but we need fleets that complement each other.
And I don't disagree with you. But we're now talking about a wider issue than I was in my original comment.
I'd wouldn't say no if the treasury loosened the purse strings to buy some but I know even if they did, we'd be talking penny numbers and another asset tying down crews for conversion and training. I doubt they'd pull the plug on Puma - or if they did, replace them frame for frame.
Also, we'd be looking probably at a year or two before we'd have a useful deployable force. That's not gonna help the SH force in the short term as much as some more cabs we already operate would.
Well, that was my thinking anyway.
And if you are after
the most lift for our money
then surely we should purchase about 50 Hips!!!
I wouldn't be against it if they were new and built to western standards but by then they wouldn't be all that cheap either.
