Taipanide utiliseerimine on "parim hinna ja kvaliteedi suhe", ütleb Conroy

“After the tragic crash last year we were faced with a circumstance where the fleet had to be grounded while those crash investigations were undertaken, and they’re still ongoing,” Minister Conroy said.

„Valitsus otsustas laevastiku alaliselt keelata ja eelmise aasta septembris, mõni kuu enne taotluse laekumist, alustasime kõrvaldamisstrateegiaga. Seejärel tegime koostööd helikopteri tootja Airbusiga, et teha kindlaks, kas olemasolevaid kasutajaid on õhuraamide vastu huvi tundnud, kuid mitte ühtegi.

„Seejärel sõlmisime organisatsiooniga NATO Helicopter Industries lepingu, et teha ülemaailmne turuülevaade, et näha, kas keegi on uueks kliendiks huvitatud õhuraamide ostmisest. Huvi õhuraamide ostmise vastu oli null.

“Seetõttu oli maksumaksja jaoks parim väärtus lennuki lahtivõtmine ja varuosade müügiga alustamine. Sest teine ​​võimalus oleks olnud maksta sadu miljoneid dollareid Airbus Australia-le, et need lennukid oleksid lennukorras, kui polnud lootust, et nad taas Austraalia armee heaks lendavad.

Last year, the Australian government announced that the ADF MRH-90 Taipan helicopter fleet was grounded and would not return to flying operations before their planned withdrawal date in December, following a series of aircraft accidents.

Helikopter MRH-90 kukkus Hamiltoni saarest lõunas alla 2023. aasta juulis õppusel Talisman Saber osaledes, samas kui teine ​​lennuk kukkus 2023. aasta märtsis tavapärase terrorismivastase õppuse käigus NSW vetesse.

The incidents followed suspended flying operations in June 2021 after issues were found relating to the aircraft’s IT support system, as well as a tail rotor vibration problem identified at HMAS Albatross in 2019.

Taipani helikopteripark asendatakse 40 UH-60M Black Hawki helikopteri kiirendatud kasutuselevõtuga, mis on hangitud 4507. aasta jaanuaris välja kuulutatud mitmeotstarbelise helikopteri kiire asendamise projekti LAND 1 Phase 2023 raames.

Nendele lennukitele lisanduvad uued AH-64E Apache helikopterid, mis võetakse Austraalia armee teenistusse 2025. aastal.

Australian Aviation can confirm Taipan disassembly is being conducted by industry partners using standard mechanisms but cannot substantiate rumours that the aircraft will eventually be buried underground.

There are now no Taipan aircraft in flying condition; and spare parts from the helicopters will be sold to existing users of similar variants, Minister Conroy confirmed.

“We’re not the only user of these aircraft that are retiring them; Sweden is retiring theirs, Belgium is retiring theirs, Germany, the biggest user of these helicopters, is constantly complaining about availability,” he said.

“There was no interest in buying the air frames, therefore, the best value for money for the taxpayers was to sell the spare parts and dispose of the air frames.”

Minister Conroy also hit back at public commentary imploring the Australian government retain the Taipan fleet in working order and supply them to Ukraine.

“That request (from Ukraine) came in just before Christmas, and our response is going through the normal process of being developed by the Department of Defence,” he said.

“That request came in three months after the disposal strategy began, three months after these aircraft were grounded, three months after maintenance ceased on these aircraft.

“The aircraft aren’t in flying condition and we have not established whether they’re safe to fly. But a response will be provided through the normal channels to the Ukrainian government.

“We do not know whether they’re safe to fly… to get them into a condition to provide to the Ukrainian government would require considerable taxpayers’ expense and time and resources. And that was not a good use of taxpayers’ money.

“We’re providing $910 million worth of assistance to Ukraine, including ADF personnel training their civilians right now, and we’ll continue to consider requests where they’re appropriate. But I really just find it quite incredible that people are suggesting that we should provide aircraft to Ukraine that we still have no idea are safe to fly.

“To get any up to flying condition would require a huge investment in taxpayers’ funds, time and resources to do that. I should also really make this really important point: we have multiple crash investigations still going on into the tragic accident in Queensland last year. We have no idea whether these aircraft are safe to fly.

“Anyone who suggests that these aircraft have been cleared is lying, and they are making, quite frankly, really offensive suggestions at a time when people are really grieving. So I think it’s really important that those crash investigations keep working to establish the cause of that accident. These aircraft aren’t in a flying condition, and we still do not know whether they’re safe to fly.”