On December 21, the editor of the Asia Pacific Defence Reporter ran a story about the disposal of the MRH-90 Taipan helicopters and Ukraine's apparent request for them. Despite the news, the Australian government remained silent, not publicly disclosing that the decision to dismantle the helicopters had been made months earlier.
The Defense Minister for Procurement, Pat Conroy, revealed that Ukraine had made an official request for the helicopters in December. However, the Australian government had already decided in September of the previous year to permanently ground the Airbus helicopter fleet and replace them with American-made Black Hawks. The government contacted Airbus to explore potential buyers for the MRH-90 Taipan airframes but found zero interest.
Conroy explained that the decision to disassemble the helicopters and sell spare parts was deemed the best value for taxpayers, as maintaining the aircraft in flying condition would have cost hundreds of millions of dollars with no prospect of them flying again for the Australian Army.
Australia joins Norway and Sweden as the most recent national customers to scrap the use of these helicopters due to low availability rates and high maintenance costs. The decision has been criticized for lack of transparency, with a retired two-star general stating that the government is wasting an asset that other users seem to be employing as designed.
Senator Pauline Hanson's supports for donating some of the MRH-90 Taipan helicopters to Ukraine to improve the country's ability to medically evacuate soldiers from battlegrounds. However, few legislators have come forward to support this idea, and concerns have been raised about leaving Australia short of assets for flood and fire assistance or responding to military emergencies with the disposal of the Taipans before the full arrival of the Black Hawk fleet.
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