Originally Posted by
Thomas coupling
Dmanton are you serious?? Jean chretien saw to the demise of the EH101 order in 1993. Where have you been?
The a/c never got off the starting blocks because of spares and reliability issues and only a few slipped past the politicians to replace the knackered old labrador. It cost the Canadian public a massive fortune in penalty payments.
While we are on the subject of procurement disasters, what about the F35 order?
Yes, I'm VERY aware of all that, but your wording makes it appear that somehow AgustaWestland or the -101 were somehow to blame, when in fact the Canadians weren't bitten by the 101 so much as repeatedly shot themselves in the foot over it, finally appearing to get bored of the foot shooting and actually placing the gun at their temple with the S-92/CH-148 debacle.
As for the spares and reliability issues, one was a direct result of the other. As the independent report on the CH-149 fleet's ability to operate successfully made clear, actual problems "on the line" were and are rare, because of the -101's inherent reliability, it's in the deeper servicing and maintenance that things go south because of a:/insufficent spares (all that needs is money!) b:/insufficent airframes for the expected availability rates (see a for answer). The Portuguese suffered exactly the same way with their -101 SAR fleet, and for much the same reasons. What I'm not aware of is how much of that issue is from the vendor promising a spares and support package for a price that is competitive but unable to meet the demands of the customer, or the customer (in this case the DND?) cheaping out and not being prepared to pay for a package that was suitable for the job in spite of warnings in the first place? Perhaps others know more? Because if it's the first assertion then the vendor has a clear culpability and responsibility for availability issues, and if it's the second then the Canadians bit themselves, none else did.
So yes, I'm totally aware of the history of the Canadians and the EH-101 (the helicopter having been a huge part of my working life since 1986 when I was first apprenticed at the Yeovil site), I'm just seeking clarification on your assertion that it bit the Canadians, when it could be argued it was self inflicted?