The Air 9000
support and acquisition contract
is proceeding according to plan.
The first aircraft will be delivered
at the end of the year, and the
Australian assembly line will be
launched in mid-2007.
Thanks to the experience acquired on
the ARH (1) version of the Tiger, it was
possible to recruit specialized
teams relatively
early in
the process
to insure they would be operational when
the MRH90 (2) contract was signed.
This
head start has resulted in much more
effective and hands-on program management
and customer relations.
Of the 46
total aircraft, 42 will be manufactured
entirely by Australian Aerospace (assembly
line, ground and flight tests). For scheduling
reasons, and in order to meet deadlines
for the initial deliveries and the
training of Australian personnel, the first
four helicopters are being built in Marignane.
The first two aircraft are scheduled
to enter service in December 2007.
The Australian Army will be receiving forty
of the machines to replace their Black
Hawk helicopters, and the other six will be
replacing the Sea King helicopters operated
by the Australian Navy.
All of the
MRH90s have the same TTH configuration
however, and their ship transport capabilities
(composite fuselage, etc.) mean that
the Army helicopters can be operated from
Navy vessels. Special Forces will be operating twelve of
the forty army helicopters.
Complete Program Management
The annual production rate will be between
seven to nine aircraft up to 2014.
The production
of the first MRH90 to be assembled
in Australia will begin in mid-2007, while
the final ARH Tiger will be delivered in
2008.
Beginning in 2009, the assembly line
will be completely dedicated to the MRH90.
As for the Tiger, all special tooling will be
duplicated from the European assembly
line and transferred from Marignane to
Brisbane.
A Eurocopter technical assistance team
will be on hand to provide support for the
launching of the Australian assembly line.
The team will help resolve
technical problems and
liaise with the specialists
in Europe for 12 to 18
months.
Personalized
Support
Aircraft
support at
the customer site
will be provided
by Australian
Aerospace, and
teams will be
working at the
army bases in
Brisbane, Townsville,
Oakey and the Navy
base in Nowra.
The
organizational set-up
will be the same as the
one implemented for the ARH
Tiger.
The Brisbane center of excellence will
manage the technical problems and support,
and also handle the flow of spare parts.
They will be counting on the help of teams of
specialists at the MRH90 operational sites.
The Australian Commonwealth fully appreciates
the sophisticated technology of the
ARH Tiger, and understands how many
advantages that its joint use with MRH90
helicopters will bring.
The Air 87 program has generated a
turnover of 650 million Australian dollars
for Australian industry, and 1.1 billion Australian
dollars will be injected into the local
economy thanks to the MRH90.
