The German army is being forced to retire one-third of its fleet of Bell UH-1D Iroquois fleet ahead of time because of budget shortages.
Some 52 transport helicopters from the current fleet of 176 are to be grounded from 1997, and will be cannibalised for spares. The helicopters in the fleet are nearly 30 years old, and the latest round of budget cuts and the cost of peacekeeping operations in Bosnia has left spare parts scarcer than ever.
The army wants to keep the UH-1D in service into the next century, when it will be replaced by the NH Industries NH90 helicopter from 2003.
Originally, the entire fleet was to be flown until the year 2000 before beginning to be phased out of service, but the new financial constraints mean that a part of the fleet must be sacrificed to keep at least 120 helicopters operational.
According to German press reports, parliamentary armed- forces representative Claire Marenfeld wrote to defence minister, Volker Rühe in August, expressing concern that the operational readiness of helicopters and surface-to-air missile systems as well as other military equipment was "indefensibly low".
One press report says that the 80% readiness, which is claimed by Germany for its 15 helicopters operating under the Bosnian peace keeping banner is being achieved only at the expense of domestic operations.
It further claims that air force transport crews who used to fly 200-240h/ year are now having to make do with 140h annually, in a bid to save money.
Source: Flight International
