호주의 MRH90 (NH90) Helicopter 비행중지 관련 소식...

 

지난 5월 27일 Shephard Group (Magazine) Ltd. 에서 주최한 [Heli-Pacific 2010] 에서 거론된 호주 육군이 도입, 운용하고

있는 중형다목적헬기 MRH90 (NH90) 관련 소식입니다. 다소 지난 기사입니다만, 현재까지 호주 국방성으로 부터 비행 재개와

관련된 공식적인 발표가 없어 소개합니다.   

 

4월 20일 엔진고장을 일으킨 후, 호주 육군이 운용 중인 모든 MRH90 에 대해서 정확한 원인 규명 및 정비가 완료될 때까지 비행

중지를 내렸다는 내용입니다. 또한 호주 역시 지난 2월 독일 언론이 지적한 NH90 관련 문제점들과 동일한 부분에서 불만이라는

내용입니다.

 

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Heli-Pacific 2010: ADF addresses MRH90 problems

May 28, 2010

 

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) continues to face significant issues getting the MRH90 multirole helicopter into service but defence chiefs remain confident of the capabilities of the aircraft.

 

At the Shephard Heli-Pacific conference on Australia’s Gold Coast on 27 May, the problems the ADF has experienced with the aircraft were laid bare, with capability managers outlining the steps they are now taking to resolve the issues.

 

The MRH90 programme has come under fresh scrutiny after revelations the fleet has been grounded indefinitely following a ‘catastrophic’ engine failure to one aircraft on 20 April.

 

Commander Tim Leonard, co-ordinator of the MRH90 Introduction into Service Task Group, said a range of issues continued to dog the programme.

 

‘Some of the immediate challenges we face are an insufficient rate of effort to support introduction into service activities. This has been due to a number or reasons,' Leonard said.

 

‘There has been poor system reliability or design on items that include cabin floors, windscreens, main gear box, machine gun mounts and recently, of course, the engines. The inconsistent supply chain has meant that aircraft often spend longer on the ground than we would like while we wait for spare parts. This inconsistency rate of effort has hampered our ability to train the instructors required to grow the best of the capability.’

 

In addition, without an airworthiness certificate with a significantly broad range of operations in its scope, the ADF was limited in its development of operational capability.

 

Leonard said a broad range of solutions was now being implemented while industry was running a product improvement programme seeking to rectify the reliability and design issues that have been discovered by the early customers of the NH90, including Australia.

 

He said the ADF’s spare parts holdings, which were initially too optimistic, had been adjusted to ‘better reflect reality’.

 

‘Some bits that we thought would last forever clearly haven’t, and some bits we thought would need replacing often have soldiered on. This harmonising of the spares holdings will be an on-going activity as industry itself sometimes has difficulty resourcing bits from its sub-contractors,’ Leonard said.

 

In addition, the ADF is looking at training more pilots overseas in an attempt to ‘claw back’ some of the programme’s schedule.

 

However, the programme will be further delayed while the cause the engine failure of an MRH90 on 20 April, about 30 minutes north-east of Adelaide, was determined.

 

Although the helicopter lost one of its two Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322-01/9 engines, it was able to return to Royal Australian Air Force base Edinburgh without further incident.

 

Leonard said while the aircraft performed ‘very well’ under the circumstances, the incident would clearly affect schedule and how the programme was implemented.

 

Meanwhile, Major General Tony Fraser, head of the Helicopter Systems Division of the Defence Materiel Organisation, urged that the problems experienced by the programme were kept in perspective.

 

‘There is a bit of apprehension about these projects. But we have demonstrated that by working as a team – France has been exceptional in supporting us, through our sister agency the DGA, as has everyone else involved – we have the ability to get through the issues,’ Fraser said.

 

‘They are good problems to have. It is much better to have these problems than not having them and still sitting where we were and not having the capability.’

 

By Tony Skinner, Gold Coast

 

 

  ⓒ Australian Gov. DoD