navy helicopters

The Australian Sea Kings helicopters should be speedily retired & replaced as the Australia Defence Association say in the latest edition of its national journal Defender

Link

ADA said it believed that the problems with the Sea Kings was not that they were too old but after one went down on the April 2 which killed nine people questions are being asked about the safety of these choppers

Wonder what would they replace them with ?

They might go with the SH-60 family. The USN has had very good luck with them, and it's a good helo for the mission.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
They might go with the SH-60 family. The USN has had very good luck with them, and it's a good helo for the mission.

Agreed, they already have some Blackhawks, so Seahawks would be logical choice.

The Seahawks would be a good choise, I agree... But I cannot believe that they would replace the whole fleet because of one accident, that doesn't sound logical. This can't be the only reason, I'am pretty sure of it...

The reason they're being replaced is that they're old. The first Sea Kings flew around 1970.

Australia already has the SH-60Bs, they should either add to the fleet, or upgrade to the newest models.

Ok, I understand... Sth Hemisphere gave me an impression that thy wouldn't be replaced because of thir age... That is what I reacted to...

Yeah, I can see where that would come across, since that's what he said. However, many of the problems the Sea Kinga are having that would cause accidents are age related. As they get older and phased out with other militaries, it's gonna get harder to get spares and parts for them.

In August 2004, the Australian Ministry of Defence selected a version of the helicopter, the MRH 90, to meet the Australian Army requirement for 12 troop transport helicopters under the Air 9000 programme. The contract was signed in June 2005. The helicopters will be built by Australian Aerospace, a subsidiary of Eurocopter, and will enter service in 2007-08.

In April 2005, the NH90 was selected to replace the Royal New Zealand Air Force's fleet of UH-1H Iroquois helicopters.

Blackhawks are only going to used for SAS/ Commando support.
MRH 90 will be used for other duties.
There is talk of a follow up order to replace SEAKING.

www.naval-technology.com...

Did I read correctly that Australia already has some SH-60's? If so why did they not completely replace the Sea King in the first place?

Assuming the SH-60 was found somehow lacking as a total replacement might Australia be interested in the Merlin?

Workhorse of the RAN's fleet the Sea King is a large and very versatile helicopter with the ability to pick up loads heavier than a Land Rover. The aircraft can operate day and night, in good weather and bad at low level over the sea and over land.

The roles of the Sea King are:

Delivery of people and provisions between ships and from ships to the shore.
Search and rescue missions.
Detection and reporting of hostile shipping.
Torpedo and depth charge delivery.
Army support when the Army moves from ships to shore.
The Sea King can operate from the supply ship HMAS Success, the landing ship HMAS Tobruk and the amphibious transport ships HMAS Manoora and HMAS Kanimbla.



[edit on 26-12-2005 by Jezza]

the MRH 90 is thought the best option for the job given the aircraft performance,avionics package and layout.

Lets hope there will not be delays in production like the Aussie Tigers.

The sea kings have had thier day, time to move into the 21st century.

All helicopters pose problems, based basically on the fact its all happening around you and your just along for the ride, the last thing you want as crew is the additional problem of antique aircraft being asked to operate in a modern war zone.

Something is going to give and roll itself into a ball

The Finnish army has also got some NH90... I've seen them fly, and in my opinion they are pretty good...