Turkey's First Multiple Purpose Amphib is making progress

Hopefully it'll do a better job than Australia's Canberra class LHDs, pretty much the same size as these. They have serious engine issues, caused by Navantia, Siemens and BAE Systems not being able to integrate their components of the total propulsion system. Engineers have found temporary workarounds, but speak to anyone in the know and you will hear a stream of vindictive on how this issue of getting 3 very different companies with different engineering approaches work together was a near guarantee of this mini-disaster happening. As always, if there's a way to screw something up, the defense contractors will find a way...

Now where have I heard that before..."ACHOO...Eurotiger Program"
Eurotiger fiasco

a reply to: Blackfinger

And the Collins class?

a reply to: Blackfinger

Yeah, another procurement disaster: Airbus basically nailed the deal with offsets, technology transfers and the like, much more politically saleable than Boeing's then offer. But whilst the Tiger has been pretty good when it worked...it has simply not worked well often enough, and the article gives only a hint of the issues, including unexplained targeting software behaviour, excessive fuel burn and a myriad of other issues.

On the bright side...at least they're better than the Collins...

a reply to: Borys
Word still is that the Tigers will be replaced with most probably AH-1Z's. Which is exactly what they should have chosen 15 years ago.

a reply to: thebozeian

Hmmmm. Go with something tried and proven...or muddle along with what we have for a bit longer and hope that Boeing/Sikorsky get this one right at the start...

Sikorsky / Boeing concept for next generation helciopters.

Geez they might as well bring back the Comanche..

a reply to: Borys

Something tried, proven and available quickly at a reasonable price, that equals AH-1Z. The Apache is overkill and the Tigers are periodically and regularly useless. We chopped the Seasprite program for arguably less. The SB-1 and V-280 are still in concept stage with no firm commitment to buy or budget allocation firmed up. That means at the very best it will take 10 years to come to fruition and we need something NOW. The Asia/Pacific region is deteriorating rapidly and I now believe Australia could get caught up in an open conflict with China as they start asserting influence in our backyard over Pacific Island nations like Vanuatu. The US is making it pretty clear that they want us to "man the walls" in the Sth Pacific both diplomatically and militarily while they concentrate on the Nth Pacific and Asia, therefore we need a decent, reliable and marinized heavy recon/light attack bird ideal for island hopping. And all this could happen well within the next 10 years.

a reply to: thebozeian
With the Crack/Blackhawks being retired and the Mrh90 Taipans shaping up to be as bad as the Tigers we are in a bad shape..Bring back the Iroquois....

a reply to: Blackfinger
At present I dont see the Blackhawks being retired, especially for the special forces use. It wouldn't surprise me in fact if we see around a dozen kept and upgraded specifically for that as it makes sense.

There was a very good argument put forward a few years back that our (then) about to be retired UH-1H fleet should be expanded and put through the Huey II rebuild program for what would have been a fraction of the cost of the MRH-90 debacle. Couple this with either rebuilt Blackhawks to the latest standard or new builds and you have a credible force. The Huey II's have a lower operating cost per hour than the Bkackhawks so can be used for lower duties. Failing that, if they weren't spitting gearbox components randomly I fail to see why we went with the MRH-90's when if you look at the costs versus performance the later models of the Super Puma, namely the H225 or H215 either meet or exceed the Taipans in virtually every metric and at lower cost. I'm stating the obvious and its arguably a pandemic, but there is something very, very wrong with procurement programs in the west and Australia appears towards the forefront of this incompetence.

Not enough stars I can throw at you mate

a reply to: Blackfinger
Whats worse is that virtually all the alternatives I mentioned have probably got better marinized airframes than the MRH-90's. At one point early on it was suggested that in order to operate off the Canberra class LHD's effectively for extended periods we should be buying the marinized version with folding blade kits, or at worst standard ones with folding blade kits. Nup!, lets be dumb and claim we are saving money and buy regular ones (which incidentally are used by the RAN as "pool" airframes for ship use with the Army in lieu of dedicated replacements for the retired Sea Kings). So now the Navy operates around 6 without any marinization or ability to fold the main rotors/tail rotor. And remember this is the helicopter family that have suffered high profile problems with corrosion with multiple operators like the Dutch to their detriment as well as annoyance, frankly I'm skeptical if they have solved these issues long term. End result? You cant fit as many onboard as you should be able to, therefore reducing the effectiveness of the LHD assets, nice one. Remember the civilian idiots that are actually making these decisions inside the DoD bureaucracy are probably on salaries greatly exceeding $400k a year too.

I'm actually genuinely surprised that given these screw ups they haven't built a case for buying another one or two Canberra's to make up for their planning and purchasing stupidity. They are that dumb and irresponsible.

Im still laughing at the "hey lets upgrade the Tiger so much with electronics (USA weapon system)they overheat so badly in the Australian Sun that they need bigger aircon units that are so heavy that they have to modify the use of the turrets"
Oh and at full military weight we cant get them to hover in temps over 30 degrees C...Hhhmmm
Give me a Kwoka with a pair of M60,s bolted on any day with a chino graph pencil line on the windscreen..

a reply to: thebozeian

Sadly you're right about this region: Australian's got strategically lazy since the early 1990s thinking the US would always be there for us with overwhelming power that everyone else would not dare mess, Indonesia was still decades away from any real threat potential and actually the relationship could be managed well, China was growing but focused on things close to its shores.

And now, we wake up with a US leader who is geopolitically unpredictable and a China that is spending big bucks in backwaters that get them perfectly positioned for ship visits and eventually aircraft staging.

Someone remind me...what are the get out clauses for the NNPT and MTCR...?

Anyway back on track..How does the amphib work with Turkeys advancement on playing with the Gen 5 guys?
Im thinking there will a look over at Russia.