Looks like CHC as part of the new Soteria consortium are going to implement more S-92a helos in the UK. Still the best equipment for this job, I don't think so until they sort out the MGB mounting feet cracks..I for one don't fancy a 130 kt limited helo being used for SAR duties.
HMS Gannet jobs fear as MoD awards £7bn contract - Scotsman.com News
CONCERNS were raised last night about the future of the air base at HMS Gannet at Prestwick following a shake up of Britain's search and rescue helicopter service.
There are fears that the helicopter base could be moved from the Ayrshire naval base to Glasgow Airport, placing the jobs of up to 100 military and civilian staff under threat.
A consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland and one of the North Sea's major helicopter companies yesterday won a £7 billion contract to operate the new service.
The deal will see the familiar yellow Sea King search and rescue helicopters of the RAF starting to disappear from the skies over Britain in 2012.
The RAF aircraft will be replaced by a new fleet of black and orange liveried helicopters which will operate on both civilian and military rescue missions currently carried out by the RAF, the Royal Navy and the Coastguard.
The fleet of helicopters will operate from 12 bases around Britain, including four in Scotland.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed last night that search and rescue (SAR) operations would continue at RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and the current Coastguard helicopter bases at Sumburgh on Shetland, and Stornoway in the Western Isles.
But an MoD spokesman said the new contract allowed the base for operations in the Clyde area to be moved from HMS Gannet.
The spokesman stressed: "The invitation to tender states that as long as the preferred bidder provides a SAR helicopter output which encompasses that region, then they do not have to retain the SAR base at Prestwick. It is entirely up to the consortium to decide where they are going to provide that service from."
He also revealed that the number of helicopters involved in SAR missions in Britain would be reduced from 38 to 24 aircraft.
But he claimed the new fleet of Sikorsky S-92A aircraft will be 30 per cent faster than the ageing Sea Kings and equipped with the latest SAR technology.
The "Soteria" consortium, which has won the contract to provide the new service for the next 25 years, comprises CHC Helicopters, a Canadian-based company which is one of the main operators of offshore flights in Britain's oil and gas industry, French company Thales, helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky, and the government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland.
Announcing that the Soteria consortium had been chosen as the preferred bidder for the massive contract, Quentin Davies, the minister for defence equipment and support, said: "The new service, which will begin with a phased introduction anticipated to begin in 2012, will bring together the current search and rescue helicopter provision into one highly effective and harmonised service under a single contract providing the British taxpayer with an excellent service for many years to come.
"The future service will benefit from modern, fast, reliable helicopters and will continue to operate from 12 bases in order to ensure that it provides a fully effective SAR service."