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Troubles at MD Helicopters

MD530 which was supposed to be delivered for the Malaysian Army on display at the HAI Heli-Expo in Las Vegas in 2018. The helicopters are supposed to be delivered this August.

SHAH ALAM: Troubles at MD Helicopters. MD Helicopters is in the spotlight again with news that its CEO Lyn Tilton has resigned from the company. She resigned from the company as a court ordered her to sell the company to repay her debts in her holding company.

From Flight Global

Lynn Tilton has resigned as chief executive of MD Helicopters after a bankruptcy court orderer that she sell the aircraft manufacturer to repay debts to her holding company Patriarch Partners.

Patriarch Partners defaulted on $1.7 billion in loans owed to financier Zohar, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Zohar sued the company to force it to sell off its businesses, including MD Helicopters, to repay the debt. MD Helicopters confirmed Tilton’s resignation to FlightGlobal.

Flight Global noted that

Despite losing its chief executive and being caught in a bankruptcy fight, MD Helicopters says it is a ”viable, thriving, promising businesses”.

”MD is fully executing all of its military and commercial contracts as well as supporting worldwide operations through its global network of field service personnel and authorised sales, service and distribution partners”, the company says.

The MD530G fitted with the FN Herstal rocket machine gun pod and a Gatling. This is a likely weapon configuration for the LSH.

MD Helicopters is basically saying to its customers that its business as usual for the company, even with the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The disruption will likely delay the deliveries of our M.D. light scout attack helicopters. With certification and training not yet done, the travel disruptions caused by the pandemic will naturally pushed back the delivery.
The MD530G displayed at HAI Heli-Expo is also fitted with the twin Hellfire missile launcher on its starboard pylon. The Army did not purchased the Hellfires.

Of course, with the economic outlook not looking good as well it is likely that some will also called for the cancellation of the contract altogether. Whether or not this a good idea is beyond me.

— Malaysian Defence

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Marhalim Abas: Shah Alam

View Comments (6)

  • MDH being part of the US defence industry complex won't be allowed to go down by the US Govt. At the most they will be bought out and restructured, keeping the original contracts valid unless it is their interest to let go. Until the company files for Chapter 11, there is no need to worry about our MD530s other than delays due to COVID-19.

  • @ joe

    I think you got the comprehension of the situation totally wrong.

    MD Helicopters is fine, and is nowhere near any financial trouble.

    Instead the majority owner of MD Helicopter is, and she is forced by the courts to sell the healthy MD Helicopter company to pay off her debts.

  • @...
    Which is why this bit of news is a non-starter. My point is let's not make any mountains out of this molehill. If there's any delays with our MD530s, this isn't one of them.

  • The mess we face all boils down to the fact that instead of MINDEF dealing directly with the OEM; in line with our longstanding policy, a local company got the contract. Not the first or the last time things will go rat shit because of a flawed policy we have in place; which benefits local companies but screws the end user and the tax payer. What added benefit was gained by enabling a local
    company to be the prime contractor and to mark up the price? Until some fundamental changes are made to our procurement policy we will continue screwing ourselves.