DEFENCE
fiightglobal.com 15 December 2015-4 January 2016 | Flight International | 17
Surplus Hercules
offered to France
de Fence P1 8NH IndustriesACCEPTANCE
Spain takes delivery of second NH
NH Industries (NHI) has delivered the second of 22 NH90 troop trans-
port helicopters to the Spanish army. Handed over at the Albacete
production line of the European consortium’s majority shareholder
Airbus Helicopters on 4 December, the 11t-class rotorcraft was the
28th delivery for the programme in 2015, and the 260th in total.
NHI had forecast delivering around 50 helicopters in 2015. The
latest aircraft’s transfer is the first delivery to Madrid since a sig-
nificant contract revision was agreed, cutting its order from 45 to- Spain’s NH90s are powered by GE Aviation CT7 engines.
Italy’s AgustaWestland and Fokker, of the Netherlands, are also
partners in NHI.
A
gustaWestland’s hopes of
selling three VVIP-
configured AW101 helicopters to
Indonesia appear to have been
dashed, after the country’s leader,
Joko Widodo, rejected an air force
plan for their acquisition.
In late November 2015, the
head of the air force, Air Marshal
Agus Supriatna, said the service
had selected the UK-built, 15.6t
rotorcraft, noting there was no
Indonesian-built alternative.
Acquisition of the AW101s for
the air force’s 45 Sqn was part of
its strategic equipment plan for
2015-2019, he said.
However, following a 3 De-
cember cabinet meeting to dis-
cuss defence procurement,
Widodo “decided to disapprove a
plan to buy the helicopter[s]”, ac-
cording to local media reports
quoting cabinet secretary
Pramono Anung. The decision
was made because the presiden-
tial helicopter is still serviceable,
and the “price is too high” for the
AW101s. The president has or-
dered the procurement of a
l ocally-assembled helicopter, or
one with significant local con-
tent, reports suggest.
Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer
database records the Indonesian
air force as operating one Airbus
Helicopters AS332 for VIP trans-
portation. The service also has
received five of 15 Airbus Heli-
copters H225M transports. ■roTorCrAfT domInIc perry loNDoN
Indonesia grounds VIP
helicopter acquisition
TrAiNiNg ellIs tAylor SINGAPorE
PC-21 contract lift for Australian pilots
lockheed Martin, Pilatus and Hawker Pacific will supply 49 turboprop trainers and seven simulators under tri-service deal
A
consortium led by Lockheed
Martin has been awarded a
A$1.2 billion ($870 million) con-
tract to train Australian Defence
Force (ADF) pilots using Pilatus
PC-21 turboprops.
The ‘Team 21’ consortium,
which also includes Pilatus
Aircraft and local maintenance,
repair and overhaul provider
Hawker Pacific, had been an-
nounced as the preferred tenderer
for the pilot training system
requirement in September 2015.
Included in the deal is the
acquisition of 49 PC-21s, seven
flight simulators and updated
courseware for an initial seven-
year term, starting from 2019.
Defence minister Marise Payne
says the deal will ensure that un-
dergraduate pilots across the
Royal Australian Air Force, Royal
Australian Navy and Australian
Army will be better equipped to
transition to types such as the
Lockheed F-35 and NH Industries
MRH90 multi-role helicopter.
“For the first time in Australia,
pilot training will include simula-
tors in undergraduate training.
This will become the new bench-
mark for training and preparing
military pilots for fourth- and fifth-
generation platforms,” she adds.
The Australian Department of
Defence says the new arrange-ments will also allow the ADF to
increase the number of graduate
pilots from 77 to 105 per year.
Under the teaming arrange-
ment, Lockheed will provide
overall project management for
the training system, with Pilatusto deliver the aircraft – from June
2017 – and through-life support.
Hawker Pacific will provide main-
tenance services and fleet support
in Australia.
The ADF will continue to pro-
vide instructors for the pro-
gramme, which will see basic
training at RAAF Base East Sale in
Victoria. Advanced flying training
will continue at RAAF Base
Pearce in Western Australia.
The Team 21 partners already
operate a similar training system
for the Republic of Singapore Air
Force’s Basic Wings course, which
is conducted at Pearce also using
the PC-21. This recently passed
the 50,000 flight hour and 300 stu-
dents trained milestones.
The winning team competed
against a rival bid by BAE
Systems, CAE Australia and
Beechcraft, which had proposed a
system based around the latter’s
T-6C platform. BAE is the incum-
bent contractor for the ADF’s
PC-9-equipped Basic Flying
Training School in Tamworth,
which will close in 2019. ■Pilatus
operational use of the swiss-built type will start during 2019