Eurocopter company Australian Aerospace says it is working to achieve initial operational capability of Australia's Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters as soon as possible after the country's Defence Materiel Organisation ceased payments to the manufacturer when it failed to meet a contractual milestone.
The problem is the latest in a series of setbacks for the Tiger programme, which has previously suffered a fleet grounding following an engine incident and a number of other system problems.
The DMO exercised its rights under Australia's contract for 22 Tigers to stop payments last month. The IOC milestone is defined as the ability to conduct collective training, but delays in the Tiger programme have impacted on Australia's training schedule, including the development of simulators, says the Australian Department of Defence.
"Australian Aerospace is continuing to work towards achieving IOC with support of its industry partners, subcontractors and vendor equipment suppliers, all of whom are aware of the need to resolve the IOC matter promptly," says Bob Wilson, ARH programme director at Brisbane-based Australian Aerospace.
The DoD says it is working co-with the manufacturer to limit the effects of the delay, and is confident of achieving the contracted capability. Seven of Australia's Tigers have been accepted to date and have flown more than 1,500h in training and testing.
Late last year, the Tiger fleet was grounded for two months following an engine incident involving a French army aircraft. Eurocopter could not identify the source of the problem, but the fleet returned to the air early this year. Also, a report by Australia's National Audit Office last year highlighted the programme's failure to meet a number of operational targets.
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Source: Flight International
