Helicopter trouble

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Armed Forces have a major shortage of helicopters and their current solutions are unlikely to solve the problem, Elfan Ap Rees, editor of Helicopter International, says.


The shortage of helicopters in operations is an ongoing problem that can be widely attributed to a lack of understanding by the three services on the role that helicopters can play. Shortages will not be solved by simple upgrades, purchases and life extensions, a top helicopter expert has said.

For several years now commanders and opposition MPs alike have publicly called for more helicopters in Afghan operations, arguing that with the shortage, certain missions and deliveries have been delayed and more troops are forced onto the roads riddled with IEDs and landmines.

The Armed Forces are clearly in need of more helicopters but attempts by the MoD to upgrade some types of helicopters and purchase additional aircraft have so far fallen short, Elfan Ap Rees, the editor of Helicopter International said.

"These issues have been put off for so long that you can't just turn it around over night," Ap Rees said.

He estimated that based on the age of certain helicopters, requests by commanders and the need for more helicopters in support and training roles (areas the Armed Forces have borrowed large numbers of helicopters from for frontline operations), the Forces will need at least 100 additional helicopters in order to overcome the current shortfall.

The shortfall is universal across the helicopter spectrum, from attack helicopters to troop carriers to aircraft used in a support role.

The MoD is currently considering a plan to extend the life of more than 30 Puma helicopters by eight years in order to help solve the helicopter shortage during the course of the next decade. However the £400m potential contract has come under sharp criticism in some defence circles due to the high cost of what is basically an eight year life extension.

MoD officials evidently have not learned lessons from past Puma upgrades according to Ap Rees. Earlier this decade the MoD purchased six used Pumas from South Africa, but only four were capable of meeting current operational specifications. The upgrades took five years and cost hundreds of millions of pounds, money that could have been spent on off the shelf helicopters from Europe or the US.

Ap Rees is firmly against the new Puma upgrade and welcomed news by the defence procurement minister Quentin Davies that the MoD is reconsidering the contract.

"It [the Puma] is no longer fit for purpose in terms of modern crash worthiness and safety standards. They roll over far too easily if you land awkwardly of there is a crosswind. Almost every Puma has had to have been rebuilt at some point due to some sort of damage or crash," he said.

Issues with the Puma life extension bring attention to the wider policy of helicopter life extensions in the Armed Forces. Procuring new helicopters is not always an affordable or sensible option, but life extensions could keep the numbers in the fleet at a certain level.

The extensions must however prove to be valuable both in the short and long term in order for the process to be worthwhile, Ap Rees pointed out. Extending the Pumas or the Sea Kings are questionable moves because both of the aircraft are very old. The Sea King is coming to the end of its life so any life extension would be along the same lines as the Puma, resulting in a few extra years for each aircraft. Upgrades could take four to five years by which time the MoD could have simply bought a new batch of helicopters.

The popular alternative to a widespread helicopter life extension programme is buying aircraft off the shelf. A number of Conservative MPs have called for this option, arguing that it will add new helicopters to the frontlines quicker and increase the overall number of available aircraft.

Ap Rees cautioned against this approach however, pointing to the disastrous purchase of the eight Chinooks from Boeing in the early part of this decade which was basically an off the shelf purchase by the MoD.

"You have to know what exactly you need," he said, pointing out that the desired modifications in the Chinooks contributed to the massive delays.

When buying off the shelf from the US, Britain is unlikely to receive their orders as quickly as some people think. The US military has priority when it comes to purchasing equipment in the US, meaning any British orders from a company like Sikorsky will have to wait until the US orders are filled. The US is also unlikely to allow the most modern state of the art helicopters to be available for purchase off the shelf, meaning that while Britain could be able to purchase additional aircraft, it may end up with outdated 1990s aircraft.

A more suitable solution may be to bring forward the purchase of the new medium capability helicopter. Any money spent on off the shelf capabilities could be used to speed up the procurement of a new line of British and European made aircraft.

The AW149 from AgustaWestland is the best solution according to Ap Rees, who called it "a very competent 21st century solution to the helicopter shortage."

The aircraft is already in development and the first flight test is scheduled for later this year. A substantial order could be delivered by 2013, Ap Rees said.

As a result Britain would be procuring one of the best and most modern helicopters available while spending nearly the same amount of money as off the shelf capabilities, and Britain's defence industry and economy would stand to benefit.

Whether Britain speeds up the procurement of the new medium helicopter or decides for a life extension or off the shelf purchase, remains to be seen. The budget situation is bleak for the MoD and commanders continue to fight over limited funding. Unless they begin to understand the role and importance of helicopters in combat and training/support roles, the shortages are bound to continue according to Ap Rees.