Looks like MG was wrong, from today's Guardian MoD and Treasury agree deal to plug £1bn funding gap | UK news | guardian.co.uk:

Doesn't say how many frames though.

Also on the Chinny front:

'However, the Treasury has agreed to pay for upgrades to Puma helicopters used by troops in Afghanistan out of the special reserve, a move that would save £250m from the core defence budget.'


Oh yeah.....so just how many RAF Pumas are being used by soldiers in Aghanistan?

AFIK - NONE!!!

SO JUST WHAT BLOODY USE IS THIS MOD GOING TO BE?

PS: Sorry...I got wound up again over this senseless waste of money...:ugh::ugh:

Went to Yeovil with the (then )Stn Cdr (the White Tornado) to look at this heli. "The ground clearance looks a bit low for a SH?". Yes, well it's designed for the civvy market". Oh. Are there any hardpoints for weapons etc". No, it's designed for the civvy market".

This went on for over an hour. This was a company trying to sell a heli to the military. Westlands, bless 'em.

OK - here's another suggestion - why not cancel this 'Puma 2' bollox and purchase the 17 Dutch Cougars. I understand some of the arguments as to how we could not but come on blokes let's drive towards what would be the answer.........
Sorry to hear that the Dutch are downsizing but let's keep the output in NATO and whatever it takes let's get hold of them. They are the biz.....:cool: then sell the Mk 1s/Mk2s who knows someone might want them...:rolleyes:

And add to that the Canadian Chinooks?

Chinook240: read my post again, I was quoting Wokkamate, hence the inverted commas.

MG,

Sorry mate, you're correct, but the result is the same - the plastic pig flies again! Are you on a cse at the moment?

Chinook240: thanks for that.
No, I did my OCUs years ago but I'm still around the RW world!

"SO JUST WHAT BLOODY USE IS THIS MOD GOING TO BE?"

Well, Dundiggin,

1. It'll make the Puma more capable than Merlin in Afgan.
2. The Puma IS fragged for afganistan.
3. There's plenty of other stuff going on outside of Afghan despite what the Army is desperate to tell everyone.
4. CH47 is not the answer for everything.
5. Without Puma 2 The RAF will lose 2 MORE sqns of lift to fund the AAC's purchase of yet another chocolate teapot (Wildcat)
6. Lets see how YOU like operating the current ac with 1:40 endurance, one radio and no anticipators.
7. Upgrading Puma 2 is cheaper than buying new platforms.

I would go for the idea of buying the Dutch 532s. The trainers and engineers will bleat about the infrastructure for the conversions and engineering but the transition from the 330 to 332 seem to be fairly simple judging by everybody else that has done it.

Cancellation costs for the Mk2 program is the killer and nobody is going to buy them if it is carried through. 17 532 airframes will not be enough but if it possible to halve the Mk2 programme the numbers may add up. Judging by my experience with organizations unloading surplus aircraft the Dutch aircraft could come quite cheaply. That with the reduced cost of the smaller Mk2 project may come to the same figures as the whole Mk 2 programme.

The performance would be similar but the Mk 2 would keep ahead with the lower basic weight. There is no reason why two differently equipped squadrons could not operate together using each others aircrew as required. I used to switch between the 330 and the 332 on a daily basis, as did a lot of others.

Good luck with the quad bikes, trailers and pallets then!!

But not all at the same time,surely?

Chinook240,
Banter level is inversely proportional to weight carried...