Non-Subscriber Extract
UK may drop Puma and Sea King extensions and bring forward Future Medium Helicopter
By Gerrard Cowan, JDW Europe Editor, London, and Craig Caffrey, Aviation analyst
05 June 2009
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is considering dropping plans to extend the life of its Puma and Sea King helicopters and bringing forward the Future Medium Helicopter programme as a replacement.
Speaking before the House of Commons Defence Select Committee on 2 June, Defence Procurement Minister Quentin Davies said he had asked for a complete re-examination of the options available to the Royal Air Force (RAF), conceding the move was "at the 11th hour".
While insisting that the MoD was still committed to its previously stated position, under which AgustaWestland would upgrade the Sea King and Eurocopter would upgrade the Puma, he wished to explore "the possibility of dispensing with spending the taxpayers' money on upgrading aircraft which have reached a certain age".
Davies said that bringing forward the Future Medium Helicopter programme, which is currently penciled in for 2017, would "certainly have to be done on a modified off-the-shelf basis", which he said was his "strong preference for meeting that commitment anyway to avoid technical risk and some of the agonies we've had in the past".