SHAH ALAM: It appears that the search for Maritime Utility Helicopter (MUH) for the RMN is expected to end anytime soon. Yes the tender for the MUH – issued almost 12 months ago – is in the final stages and the result is expected to be announce, though the actual time remained hazy.
The lockdowns imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic had delayed part of the process, I was told. As for the numbers,
RMN Chief Adm. Reza Sany said they were looking for three utility helicopters, to be based at ESSCOM AOR for troop transport and utility roles. He said the budget allocated for the program was RM220 million.
The tender was originally published on July 19 before it was cancelled and a new one reissued shortly after with changes to the bidders eligibility.Maritime Utility Helicopter Tender.
I was told of the helicopter that was shortlisted but I will not name it as the contract has not been awarded. For the record I had previously reported that at least three helicopters could be offered for the MUH tender, they are (in alphabetical order) Airbus H145, Leonardo AW139 and the Sikorsky S-76.
It must be noted that the MUH tender is separate from the helicopters being sought for RMN for Op Benteng duties.
Meanwhile, the contract for the multi engine conversion unit (MECU) for RMAF has been awarded to Aerotree Defence Services Sdn Bhd. The notice of letter of award was published on Aug 21. The contract for the year 2020 is RM497,000.
As you are aware the MECU training has been conctracted to Aerotree from 2012 to 2017 with two Beechcraft Super King Airs. The contract lapsed in late 2017 and Aerotree had conducted the contract on a monthly basis up to late 2018. Once lapsed the MECU training had to be conducted on a B200T of No 16 Squadron.
— Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (28)
My bet on AW139/149 cuz that helis apparently appeared on kd rajawali wall props not long ago..
A Sikorsky S-76 unit cost is USD $12-15mil which puts it in the ballpark as the slightly bigger and better performing S-70i. IMHO why not get S-70i instead. The allocated RM220mil is more than plenty to buy 3units and if top up another 20mil they could get a 4th unit. That way, TLDM could get S-70 for their ASW program, and TUDM & TDM could go for S-70i for their respective Nuri replacement programs. MMEA too could benefit from such commonalisation further down the line when they need choppers.
If they go for AW139, logically the wet leasing should get the same examples from Weststar.
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Its a wet lease, the winning bidder will supply everything from maintenance and aircrew and a fixed flying hour, so actually it doesn't have to be the same helicopter. It could be a Huey or Mi 17 for that matter.
Mr Marhalim, a question..RMN want 5 helis during RMK12 does this means RMN will only get 2 more or 5 more MUH to make it 8 units in total plus 2 brand new ASW Heli..
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MUH is being paid under RMK11
AW139 it is
if you wanna talk about commonalities, going for Agusta Westland made even more sense. Police, MMEA and even the navy is using Agusta Westland and they have their MRO center here
Another good news..congrats RMN
"the winning bidder will supply everything"
Yes but differences in platform could affect how TLDM run things, having a common platform gives them better operational control and plan around the strengths & limits of the AW139 only.
@dundun
Commonalising the brandmaker is one thing, I'm talking about going one level up doing as what US Armed Forces, Coast Guard, CBP, even their fire departments, did by using Blackhawk as the basis and modified for their various chopper needs. We can even go cheap and get used Bruneian Blackhawks in the meantime while waiting to get civvie S-70is of the production line.
No need to talk much about commonalities as it is a leasing programme.
By the type offered you can already guess who is two of the 3 offers are coming from.
There is basically only one user of S-76 in Malaysia other than the 2 units used by Sultan of Johore.
Also we know who has the biggest fleet of AW139 in Malaysia.
Of all 3, H145 is the smallest, then the S-76 and the largest is AW139. Not hard to choose actually unless politics intervened.
BTW
One of Philippines air force S-76 helicopter crashed just a few hours ago.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Phl_Air_Force_S-76-Side_View.JPG/1280px-Phl_Air_Force_S-76-Side_View.JPG