Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Australian military switches from European to US helicopters

Australia’s military says it plans to ditch its fleet of European-designed Taipan helicopters and instead buy U.S. Black Hawks and Seahawks because the American machines are more reliable

Via AP news wire
Friday 10 December 2021 04:26 GMT
Australia Helicopters
Australia Helicopters (© Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Australia's military said Friday it plans to ditch its fleet of European-designed Taipan helicopters and instead buy U.S. Black Hawks and Seahawks because the American machines are more reliable.

The move comes less than three months after Australia canceled a deal to buy French submarines in favor of building nuclear-powered submarines that use U.S. and British technology in a switch that deeply angered France.

Australia has 47 Taipan helicopters that were designed by Airbus and were supposed to last until 2037 but have been plagued with groundings. Australia will stop using them and buy 40 Lockheed Martin-designed helicopters in a switch that will cost 7 billion Australian dollars ($4.8 billion).

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia was improving its defense capabilities and had built good partnerships, particularly with the U.S.

“The Taipans weren’t meeting their marks. Simple as that,” Morrison said. “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.”

Defense Minister Peter Dutton said the Black Hawks are much cheaper to fly and that officials have had concerns about the Taipan program for the past 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 said.

He said the new helicopters would bring Australia’s fleet more in line with that of the U.S., an important consideration given the instability in the region.

China has previously expressed anger over Australia's submarine switch and said it was irresponsible of the U.S. and Britain to export their nuclear technology.

Opposition politicians said the Australian government had wasted billions of dollars on poor decisions around many of its defense contracts.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in