AIR POWER 2017 5321 ST CENTURY PARTNERSHIPS21 ST CENTURY PARTNERSHIPSdangerous roads in and around Kabul and, specifically,
has reduced the risk from IEDs and attacks. The LEP
will see the Mk2 remain in RAF service until at least
2025, but consideration is being given to keeping
the aircraft in service five or 10 years beyond this –
“recognition of just how capable the Puma now is.”
The Puma detachment that operates in and
around Kabul comprises three aircraft, and personnel
drawn from 33 and 230 Squadrons, both of which are
based at Benson. In addition to its main role – the
transport of personnel and equipment around
the ‘Kabul Cluster’ – the detachment carries out
medical transfer operations in what is a “very intense
airspace”, and often in very poor weather. But it is
in the summer, Group Captain Cormack remarks,
that the upgrade really comes into its own.Beyond Afghanistan, the Mk2 is involved in
support of hot and high training operations in the
south-west United States, and one aircraft remains on
constant standby to support contingency operations
within the UK, which could, for example, include flood
relief. RAF Benson also provides the joint Chinook
and Puma Operational Conversion Unit, which
trains all RAF support helicopter crews, and Joint
Helicopter Force 3, a deployable headquarters for
RAF helicopter missions around the world in support
of disaster relief and non-combatant operations.
Three Pumas are also earmarked for worldwide
contingency operations in these vital areas.The new machine has
almost twice the range
and endurance of
its predecessor
and Chinook), is also very well suited to the kinds of
urban operations in which the RAF is increasingly
called upon to perform, says Group Captain Cormack.
Finally, he adds: “It may sound like a salesman’s pitch,
but it’s true – the new helicopter, which is far cheaper
to run than other support helicopters in the defence
inventory, represents extremely good value for money.”
A COST-EFFECTIVE UPGRADE
In 2008, the UK MOD was faced with the rapidly
approaching out-of-service date of the RAF’s Puma
fleet, at a time when budgets were constrained
and the RAF was being called on to undertake
increasingly high-tempo operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan. With few alternatives to replacing the
Puma Mk1 fleet cost-effectively, the decision was
taken to fund an Airbus Helicopters proposal for a
Puma upgrade that would cost markedly less than a
new fleet and which could be delivered in less time.
The Puma Life Extension Programme (LEP)
was originally intended for 28 aircraft, but was
subsequently reduced to 24, in great part because
the Mk2’s new capabilities would allow the RAF
to use fewer aircraft to perform the same number
of missions. In addition to the new engines and
reduced weight, these new capabilities include
improved ballistic protection and defensive aids,
secure communications, an advanced flight
management system and a four-axis digital autopilot.
The Puma Mk2 can carry 16 fully armed troops.
The first deliveries were made in 2013, and all
23 aircraft are now in service. Initial Operational
Capability was achieved in February 2015 and, three
weeks later, ahead of schedule and to cost, the Puma
Mk2s were deployed on Operation TORAL, the NATO
training and support mission in Afghanistan also
known as the Resolute Support Mission. “‘TORAL
Saves Lives’ has been a very accurate and descriptive
strapline for us,” says Group Captain Cormack, as it
has reduced the need for personnel to travel on the
Pumas are helping
to save lives in
Afghanistan as
part of the British
contribution to
the NATO Resolute
Support Mission
(PHOTO: CORPORAL
TONY ROGERS/
© CROWN COPYRIGHT)