Airbus negotiates with Australia for MRH90 parts

The NHIndustries (NHI) MRH90 Taipan has several key components, including some systems tailored to Australian requirements. (Janes/Commonwealth of Australia)

Airbus and NHIndustries (NHI) are negotiating with the Australian government to harvest high-value parts and critical components from the Australian Defence Force's (ADF's) decommissioned fleet of NHI MRH90 Taipan helicopters.

Airbus told Janes that these parts are being sought for other NH90 customers “in order to support their flight operations”.

“Altogether, we are looking at a few thousand parts, which will be purchased by the partner companies of NHI (at no cost to the NH90 customers) and which will be re-injected into the NH90 support system,” Airbus added.

Janes reported earlier in January that the Australian government had started the process of disassembling its 46-strong fleet of MRH90 helicopters. According to Airbus, the MRH90s and the NH90s have commonality in almost all systems. “There are a few specific items to the Australian MRH90 configuration, but the very large majority of parts are common and usable by other NH90 operators,” Airbus said.

It is unclear when negotiations with Australia will be concluded. Airbus said it could not comment on the matter. However, the company added that parts harvested will be introduced into the support system in two ways: “NH90 operators will have the possibility to purchase from NHI these second-hand parts and put them in their own stocks, … and/or they will also have the possibility to use these parts via the Standard Exchange process”.