According to a tweet by ABC News’ Andrew Greeene, the Australian Army has made the decision to replace its current fleet of MRH-90 «Taipan» multi-role helicopters with the more reliable U.S. Black Hawk helicopters.
#breaking ABC has learnt @AustralianArmy will move to retire its fleet of troubled European-designed Taipan helicopters early, to be replaced by imported US Black Hawks. In October @Australian_Navy signalled it would also divest MRH-90s and acquire American MH-60R Romeo Seahawks
— Andrew Greene (@AndrewBGreene) December 9, 2021
This displacement of European-origin weapon systems towards others of North American origin could be interpreted as another of the consequences of the AUKUS alliance between Australia, the UK and the US to create a common front in the Pacific to stop China’s growth as a military superpower. The AUKUS is pointed out as the main responsible for the cancellation of the mega-contract for the purchase of a dozen modern French submarines; but as for the helicopters, the Australian dissatisfaction with this material has been going on for years.
The truth is that both the Tiger ARH reconnaissance and attack helicopters and the multi-role MRH-90 Taipan of the Army and Navy never gave the desired results.
The Australian Tiger will be replaced by the Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian, since this time a mature and combat-proven solution was sought, trying to avoid the mistakes of the past due to the immaturity and specificity of a new and «tailor-made» platform. The Tiger, modified to Australian requirements, ended up developing serious operational problems.
Something similar can be said of the Taipan, which had a multitude of logistical, parts quality and software problems that affected availability and flight safety, forcing the Australian Armed Forces to ground the NH90 fleet on several occasions.
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has 6 MRH-90s for amphibious assault duties, to whose list of problems it had to add failures in the application of the anti-corrosion treatment. That is why it was decided not to incorporate more units from the European manufacturer (NH Industries) and to continue relying on the Sikorsky MH-60, of which 12 new units will be purchased, which will be added to the 24 already in operation.
And now the Army seems to be ready to take the decisive step and get rid of its fleet of Taipan transport and assault helicopters, which for various reasons never ended up satisfying the expectations placed on them.
It remains to be seen whether NH Industries (a company owned by Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo Helicopters and Fokker) will offer an upgrade package to address the various shortcomings pointed out by Canberra in order to retain one of its largest export customers for the model. But the prospects are not good. The MoD has already dismissed a similar package offered for the ARH Tigers and switched to the Apache; and if we add the «AUKUS effect», it seems unlikely that the MRH-90 have much life ahead of them in Australia.
