July 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By: Nigel Pittaway
MELBOURNE, Australia — Airbus will offer its H145M helicopter on July 11 for Australia's special operations support helicopter program, the company's Australia Pacific managing director confirmed Thursday.
“We're excited to have the opportunity to present the H145M as part of [Project] Land 2097 Phase 4,” Andrew Mathewson said. “We have a fantastic opportunity to offer an aircraft which has a family heritage of over 5 million flight hours of operations.”
Mathewson noted that the helicopter is currently used by the German Army's special forces.
With its bid, Airbus will become the second contender in the competition, behind an industry team of Bell and Babcock Australia, which is proposing a militarized version of the Bell 429 commercial helicopter. The team announced its intention to bid on May 28. Bell is also partnering with Hawker Pacific for Land 2097 Phase 4 and has independent teams working on each bid.
Other contenders are likely to include Boeing's AH-6i Little Bird; MD Helicopters' MD530G; and Leonardo Helicopters, but neither company has publicly declared its intent to participate.
The Australian Defence Force is seeking an off-the-shelf helicopter in the 4-ton class to support the Army's special forces, primarily in their domestic counterterrorism role. Australia plans to buy up to 16 aircraft to provide an air assault capability for small teams within the special forces, and a fast-roping system to rapidly deliver troops while hovering.
Secondary roles include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, fire support, and general utility. A weapons capability is optional.
Four helicopters are required to fit in a single C-17A airlifter and be capable of rapid deployment from the Australian Army's 6th Aviation Regiment base at Holsworthy, outside Sydney. The regiment currently operates the NHIndustries-made MRH-90 Taipan in a special forces support role, and the new helicopter is to complement that capability.
Deliveries are expected to begin in 2022.
For its planned bid, Airbus Australia Pacific has teamed with 15 local suppliers to meet the Australian Industry Capability policy, which calls for defense suppliers to include local industry in their efforts. Those domestic companies include Safran Australia, Qinetiq Australia, HeliMods, Toll Helicopters, Helicopter Logistics, Sigma Bravo and Thales. The company has also entered a strategic partnership with Deakin University, near Melbourne, to develop innovative solutions and modifications throughout the H145Ms' proposed 25-year life span.
Mathewson says Airbus Australia Pacific has also offered seven H145Ms to the commonwealth, which, together with a series of technology inserts to the Australian Army's Tiger helicopters, is an independent bid to meet the requirements of Land 4503 (for armed reconnaissance helicopters).
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By: Burak Ege Bekdil ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish armored-vehicles manufacturer FNSS and its Indonesian partner PT Pindad have signed a contract to co-produce scores of medium-weight, new-generation battle tanks for the Indonesian army. The deal was signed during this year's IDEF defense and aerospace show in Istanbul Apr. 30-May 3. The companies will initially produce a batch of 18 Kaplan MT tanks within two years. The second stage of the contract involves mass production of the Kaplan MT. FNSS and PT Pindad have designed, developed and built two prototypes of the Kaplan MT under a 2015 deal. The prototypes have passed field tests in Turkey and Indonesia and were certified by the Indonesian military. The deal is part of a defense industry cooperation agreement between Turkey and Indonesia. The first prototype of the Kaplan MT tank was exhibited during IDEF'17. The tank was showcased in Indonesia during a military parade on National Armed Forces Day in October. The Kaplan MT is equipped with a battlefield management system, a wireless crew intercom system, a navigation system and an automatic fire extinguishing system. The tank is fitted with a CMI Cockerill 3105 turret mounting a Cockerill 105 mm high-pressure gun. The lightweight gun features an advanced autoloader to deliver rapid fire. The 105 mm gun can fire NATO-standard ammunition and can engage targets at a maximum distance of 10 km. The secondary weapon system includes a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun mounted to the left side of the main gun. The Kaplan MT is powered by a new-generation diesel engine coupled to a fully automatic electronic-controlled transmission. The fuel is supplied from two separate fuel tanks. The tank has a maximum road speed of 70 km/h and a minimum operating range of 450 km. It can negotiate a gradient and side slopes of 60 percent and 30 percent, respectively. It can climb a vertical obstacle of 90 cm and can cross a trench of two meters. https://www.defensenews.com/global/2019/05/06/turkish-indonesian-firms-team-up-on-medium-weight-tank