What Utility Helicopter

[Goldie fish]

As mentioned elsewhere, the IMO panel of experts have met,and have come up with a list of aircraft that may fit the criteria for selection as the FOUR TWIN ENGINE UTILITY MILITARY HELICOPTERS (With an option for Two additional Utility Military Helicopters)
Again the list was small,as the specifics of the tender rule out many of the common types. We have not included Russian makes as some of us consider the DF are trying to become compatable with other NATO/EU military forces.


Eurocopter AS565


GKN Westland Lynx


Sikorsky Blackhawk

[Turkey]

The Blackhawk, this is less a vote, .......more a prayer really.:D

[morpheus]

Blackhawk...
Most proven in my humble opinion.

[ForkTailedDevil]

Eurocopter- worlds largest helicopter supplier, EADS partner, Europe based manufacturing facilities.They make sense as supplier.I'm going to knock together some information on how the Dauphin/Panther is actually a good helicopter to try to make people feel a little less hostile towards them.

{Mod: Post moved to correct thread....}

[futurepilot]

I`m going to have to go with the AB139. Before anyone rips my head off for recommending a civilian aircraft, its already been chosen by the USCG and it more than fits the specs.Also as a package with the A109, which is a good LUH and already in military use, I think it would be the best choice.

[coffee]

i now think the blackhawk is the only option as the tender is solely aimed at the arw (only spec-ops varient of course).

[futurepilot]

The spec ops varient of the blawkhawk is even more expensive than the average blackhawk so the cost of may exceed the tenders limit.

[p.dougal]

Its a useless piece of junk.The skinys proved that!

[morpheus]

Not the choppers fault, their slow moving use within range of RPGs and 7.62 AK 47's is questionable though.

The "skinnies?" proved that armed with an RPG and presented with a large low-hovering target, that even an untrained civvie can actually hit something :D

[Come-quickly]

The only army co op helicopter of anyworth is the H-60 the rest are too small for modern roles other than observation.

[Goldie fish]

Originally posted by futurepilot
I`m going to have to go with the AB139. Before anyone rips my head off for recommending a civilian aircraft, its already been chosen by the USCG and it more than fits the specs.Also as a package with the A109, which is a good LUH and already in military use, I think it would be the best choice.

We considered the inclusion of this but it is not considered a Military helicopter by its manufacturers,unlike all the other types we selected for both polls. Also it is not as widely used and has not yet entered full successful service with the USCG. Remember we followed them with the Dauphin(even though the USCG variant was simpler it had similar poor success). If had more military customers,I would be inclined to rate it higher.

[faughanballagh]

I'm not sure you can use the USCG's use of the Dauphin as a selling point. The Dauphin plays a more search and rescue role and I'd think is lighter and more maneuvarable. However, it probably cannot carry as much weight. The Blackhawk is of a dropoff/pickup function and is more suitable for Army operations.

[andy]

Well defintely not the Eurocopter AS565 cos its a peice of sh1t. It has to be the Blackhawk since its the (seemingly) best heli for the job

[FMolloy]

i now think the blackhawk is the only option as the tender is solely aimed at the arw (only spec-ops varient of course).

What gives you that impression?

[DeV]

How many troops can each of these hold?

Blackhawk 11 troops
Panther 8-10 commandos
Lynx 9-10 troops


But are these figures WITH CEFO (WEBBING) ?