Interesting points raised by both Clearance and Trimpot, who, trust me, are "in the know"!!
Rereading the RAAF tender, no specific number of helicopters are called for, just the requirement for 95% availability and 5 mins to launch at the 4 RAAF bases at East Sale, Williamtown, Tindal and Pearce with ad hoc requests for ops up to 6 weeks per year for 4 deployments at Edinburgh and Woomera. As already stated, it is for 10 years with 2+2 years extension options.
Although Lloyds/CHC have done this since the council folded in 1989, surely with such a lucrative contract there must be other all Aussie companies capable of responding?
