Australia’s military said Friday it plans to ditch its fleet of European-designed Taipan helicopters and instead buy US Black Hawks and Seahawks because the American machines are more reliable.
The move comes less than three months after Australia cancelled a deal to buy French submarines in favour of building nuclear-powered submarines that use US and British technology in a switch that deeply angered France.
Australia bought 47 Airbus-designed Taipan helicopters to replace their Black Hawk and Sea King fleets but the multi-billion-dollar acquisition has been listed as a “project of concern” since 2011.
The Taipans were supposed to last until 2037 but the helicopters have been plagued with problems.
In 2019 the entire fleet was grounded due to concerns over the tail rotor blades and in 2020, 27 choppers were grounded to repair sliding door rails.
Australia will now stop using them and buy 40 Lockheed Martin-designed helicopters instead, in a switch that will cost £3.8 billion.
