Australia is to lease five Airbus Helicopters H135 light-twins from the UK for training purposes, as it expedites deliveries of Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks.
The five H135s will be leased for five years and be based at Oakey, Queensland, says Australia’s Department of Defence (DoD).
Canberra says it is working closely with the UK government to bring the helicopters to Australia.
“To support essential training requirements for army aircrew, Australia will procure five H135 Juno training helicopters from the United Kingdom,” says the DoD.
Although the UK has a fleet of 34 H135 trainers, designated the Juno HT1, operated by the Ascent Flight Training joint venture, the examples destined for Australia are likely sourced from elsewhere within the country’s inventory.
The UK Ministry of Defence in 2021 awarded a contract to Airbus Helicopters for the supply of five H135s to replace the elderly Gazelles operated by the Army Air Corps. Although the rotorcraft were all delivered in 2022, they never saw service and have been in storage since.
In an interview with Sky News, Australian defence minister Richard Marles says that the H135s will help Australian army pilots keep their flying hours up as they await the delivery of the UH-60Ms. Australia already uses a fleet of 15 H135s in the training role.
Canberra took delivery of its first three UH-60Ms in 2023, and the DoD says that the USA is expediting the delivery of three extra UH-60Ms in 2024. This will give Australia a fleet of 12 by the end of the year, with further arrivals between 2025-2029.
In January 2023, Canberra confirmed it would obtain 40 UH-60Ms through the US government’s Foreign Military Sales process to replace its fleet of NH Industries MRH90 Taipans – the local designation for the NH90.
Canberra had intended to withdraw the MRH90 in December 2024 after years of reliability and sustainment problems, but in late 2023 it decided to drop the type early following a fatal crash that July.
In addition, Canberra has also announced helicopter support contracts with Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
Lockheed, the parent company of Sikorsky, has received an A$340 million ($222 million), five-year support contract for the UH-60M fleet.
Boeing, for its part, has received a A$306 million, seven-year contract to support Australia’s future fleet of AH-64E Apaches.
Australia will receive its first AH-64E in 2025, and initial operational capability is expected in late 2026. In January 2021 Canberra selected the AH-64E for its 29-unit Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter acquisition.
The Apache will replace the Airbus Helicopters Tiger currently in service with the Australian Army.
In addition, Canberra has extended Boeing’s support contract for its CH-47F Chinook fleet for an additional 12 months until August 2028. This boosts the contract value to A$184 million from A$146 million.
This story has been edited to add more information in the fifth and sixth paragraphs.
