Airbus Helicopters has won the UK Ministry of Defence’s rotary-wing training contract under the Military Flying Training System (MFTS) framework, defeating a rival bid from Cobham using AgustaWestland rotorcraft.
The total £1.1 billion ($1.6 billion) deal, via the Babcock-Lockheed Martin Ascent joint venture which oversees MFTS, will see a total of 32 German-built twin-engined helicopters supplied by the manufacturer – 29 H135s and three larger H145s. These will be built at Airbus Helicopters' site near Donauwörth and then transferred to its UK facility at Oxford airport for completion. The initial aircraft will be shipped to the UK in October.
Turbomeca Arrius 2B2+ turboshaft engines have been selected to power the H135s over the rival Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206BBs. Turbomeca is the exclusive propulsion supplier on the H145 with its Arriel 2E powerplants.
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The new rotary package will mark a significant reduction in size and change in composition of the UK’s training fleet. Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer database records the incumbent training provider, Cobham Helicopter Services, as operating a total of 49 aircraft: 34 AS350 Squirrel HT1 light singles and 15 Bell Helicopter 412 HT1 Griffin twins.
Although twin-engined helicopters are more costly to operate on a per-hour basis than singles, pilots produced by MFTS will eventually go on to fly only helicopters powered by two or, in the case of the AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin, three engines.
Under the new contract, the MoD states, aircrew across the three UK services will continue to conduct their basic and advanced rotary training at the Royal Air Force's Shawbury base in Shropshire and the Army Air Corps' Middle Wallop facility in Hampshire. Crews selected for training in mountain and maritime helicopter operations will receive instruction at RAF Valley on Anglesey. Additional ground-based training equipment will be based at Shawbury.
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Training under the new contract is due to begin in 2018, delivering 28,000 flying hours per year while supporting the instruction of 121 pilots and 99 rear crew. The new arrangement will run until 2033.
Airbus Helicopters had already reserved production slots on its Donauwörth assembly line for MFTS airframes as far back as December 2015.
Rival bidder Cobham had proposed AgustaWestland rotorcraft as the airframe element of its offer, thought to be the skid-equipped AW109 Trekker light twin and the AW139 intermediate twin.
Story updated with additional information on engine selection and delivery process.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
