Tigers for Australia

[ozy_rotorhead]

Hot off the press, the Eurocpter Tiger has won the bid to supply the ARH for Australia.

[Arm out the window]

Just don't let ******* ***** near it, his Tiger touchdown skills apparently weren't so great - or was that the display pilot?

Just jokes!

[ozy_rotorhead]

It wasn't BDs fault, he was just along for the ride. That french guy almost crashed it in Canberra a couple of weeks before. It was just a matter if time.

[Arm out the window]

Yeah, I heard - I was just mucking around.

Re the deal, do you know how many, when, where etc?

[Pac Rotors]

Heard that the real negotiations start as to final configuration, actual cost, delivery dates etc. No contract has actually been signed as yet. However from what I understand it is just a formality.

Pac Rotors

[collective bias]

On Ya Aussies,
That some great hardwear to play with and like its been pointed out its got good survivability. Now only if the NZ airforce would do the same.......Still I guess you guys will always be there to help out the old country, so why buy our own?
Personally, I thought the Cobra would have been better suited to the climate and having been tested in the Gulf War would have an advantage.
I would rather be in the Tiger if given the choice, but what were the selling points?

[The Sultan]

I have heard that they have not yet selected only put the Tiger and Apache on the short list for the next round.

The Sultan

[Pac Rotors]

Sultan

There is no next round. Eurocopter have won as preferred tender so now they just have to nut out the nuts and bolts. The contest has basically been and won by the Tiger.

[sling load]

Yes Pac Rotors is right,
22 Tigers, and delivery for 2003 or 2004 not certain, also maintenance and some assembly in Brisbane and at Oakey.

I must say its great for the Army to get some gear that is state of the art and quite practical. I just hope the 1 Billion Dollar deal will include the correct amount of flying hours to keep the pilots current, and correct engineering support to keep them operational.

For a change, there are some good helicopter buys for the defence force.

Great for the Industry and the Army crews

[chips_with_everything]

Bummer.

I was on the AH-1Z Cobra bid, so if I still want to work on AIR-87 I have to look for a contract with ADI/Eurocopter now.

Secretly pleased it isn't a US product for a change :rolleyes:

[widgeon]

http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_military.jsp?view=story&id=news/mtiger0810.xml

for the full story.
Will they be OZ120's now.

Neil

[The Sultan]

All,

So I heard wrong. Sorry.

Generally, the way these things work is that the brass shortlist two vendors so they can be wined and dined for another year or two. I guess in this case they Paris is good enough.

The Sultan

[w_ocker]

its underpowered. it isnt inter operable with ANY american forces. it isnt marinised. we have to pay R and D for hellfire if we are to have it. it isnt proven. we will have to plug into the french/german trg and supply system, or else develop our own from scratch. the french - apparently- will cease supply of parts if we employ the aircraft in a way that is contrary to their desires (as I have heard occured with the mirage during vietnam). the contract was won because eurocopter promised to build a factory in qld to construct 50 or so eurocopter acft a year and sell to...what market? no idea. sure, it might be nice to give someone other than the americans a go, but in reality, we never operate with the french or germans. our whole defence strategy is based on close co-operation with the yanks. so when I land on a yank ship or at a yank farp needing fuel, re-arm or (god help me) parts, they will not be able to provide a thing! I wonder if our electronic equipment will even talk to theirs?
Yes, finally a decision was made. But it is THE WRONG DECISION! Ask anyone around here (ie the blokes who have to fly and operate with the thing) and you'll hear a similar story. Very disappointing! :mad:

[hueywsh]

W-Ocker

I also heard that eurocopter may also be purchasing the Army Squirrels back and refurbishing them back into the civvy market...maybe another reason to go with the Tiger.

[Pac Rotors]

W-Ocker

Hey I bet they won it because they flew the aircraft into the ground, but still walked away. Crashworthiness might have been a big selling point. :D

[tropppo]

Hi guys
I was told Tigers are pretty good for night flying :eek: