Australia’s army mentioned Friday it plans to ditch its fleet of European-designed Taipan helicopters and as an alternative purchase US Black Hawks and Seahawks as a result of the American machines are extra dependable.
The transfer comes lower than three months after Australia cancelled a deal to purchase French submarines in favour of constructing nuclear-powered submarines that use US and British expertise in a swap that deeply angered France.
Australia has 47 Taipan helicopters that had been designed by Airbus and had been imagined to final till 2037 however have been plagued with groundings. Australia will cease utilizing them and purchase 40 Lockheed Martin-designed helicopters in a swap that can price 7 billion Australian {dollars} ($4.8 billion).
Prime Minister Scott Morrison mentioned Australia was bettering its protection capabilities and had constructed good partnerships, significantly with the US.
“The Taipans weren’t meeting their marks. Simple as that,” Morrison mentioned. “And we want to make sure that our defense forces have the best possible equipment to defend this country, and the Black Hawks will provide that.”
Defence Minister Peter Dutton mentioned the Black Hawks are less expensive to fly and that officers have had issues concerning the Taipan program for the previous decade.
“It’s had nine instances where it’s been unsuitable to fly, and I’m just not going to put our people in that position,” Dutton mentioned.
He mentioned the brand new helicopters would convey Australia’s fleet extra consistent with that of the US, an essential consideration given the instability within the area.
China has beforehand expressed anger over Australia’s submarine swap and mentioned it was irresponsible of the US and Britain to export their nuclear expertise.
Opposition politicians mentioned the Australian authorities had wasted billions of {dollars} on poor selections round a lot of its protection contracts.
