Australia has formally rejected a request from Ukraine to use its fleet of Taipan MRH-90 helicopters, saying they’re being dismantled, but defence commentators say the aircraft should still be flying and have characterised the refusal as “scandalous.”
After one of the aircraft crashed on a training exercise in Queensland last year, killing four defence personnel, all 45 were grounded. They are now being dismantled for eventual burial, the government says.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the Defence Department worked with Airbus and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to find a potential buyer for the airframes, but there was “zero interest,” so it was decided to strip them and try to sell spare parts.
People ‘Dying Unnecessarily’
Despite their troubled history, Ukraine requested the helicopters for medevac use shortly before Christmas, pleading with Australia to “help save Ukrainian lives,” prevent people from “dying unnecessarily,” and “dramatically increase the survivability of our frontline defenders.”However, Mr. Conroy said that it would be “irresponsible for us to move away from the disposal strategy that we’ve locked in.”
Ukraine’s request “came in three months after the disposal strategy began, three months after these aircraft were grounded, three months after maintenance ceased on these aircraft,” he said.
‘National embarrassment’: Former Major-General
And in a post on social media site X (formerly Twitter), retired Army Major General Mick Ryan—now a consultant military strategist at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and the Lowy Institute—called it a “scandalous” decision.
“Rushing to bury useable helicopters rather than transferring them to a nation fighting for its life is shameful and a national embarrassment,” he said.
He accused the Australian government of “doing a world-class job in being non-transparent and obfuscating the issue.”
That criticism was echoed by the editor of Asia Pacific Defence Reporter, Kym Bergmann, a former defence industry executive.The Taipan’s Mr. Bergmann said they were “remarkably safe, with many more safety features than the Black Hawks that will replace them.”
“In the meantime, Ukraine will just have to keep fighting on in the knowledge that rather than save the lives of their wounded soldiers, Australia instead prefers to bury helicopters that they no longer want,” he said.
Former head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Peter Jennings—who is also a former deputy secretary at the Department of Defence—also entered the debate, calling the decision “one of the most puzzling” he has seen a government make and saying it was the “worst possible outcome.” He speculated that it was simply the “cheapest thing to do” to disassemble and bury the helicopters.
And the director of Strategic Analysis Australia, Michael Shoebridge, characterised it as a “major error by the Albanese government” but also blamed the Defence Department, which he said “runs” the Minister (Richard Marles).
“And it turns out the only thing the Defence Department can do quickly is make mistakes,” Mr. Shoebridge said.
Australian Ukrainians Protest
The Ukrainian community in Australia is pressuring the government to change its mind, holding protests in Sydney last weekend.Anton Bogdanovych, who helped organise the rally, told the media “Our assessment of risk is different. We’re at war. [But] the Australian government for some reason wants us all, the taxpayers, to pay close to $2 billion to dismantle them, to bury it in Australian soil, to pollute the environment instead of helping a friend in need.”
2023 was not the first time the MRH-90s had been grounded by Australia. Eleven were taken out of service soon after they were deployed, in 2010, when one suffered an engine failure near Adelaide.
In June 2019, the ABC obtained a sensitive “projects of concern” report, listing the helicopters among the worst-performing military acquisitions. The report said the fleet is limited on certain missions because it cannot shut down the main engines.
The following year, defence officials confirmed to a Senate hearing that the helicopter’s door was too narrow to allow its gun to fire while troops were descending.
Then in 2021, the entire fleet was grounded for weeks, with the ADF describing the move as a “safety precaution” following issues with the IT support system.In December of that year, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the entire fleet would be replaced—a decade ahead of schedule—with new Black Hawks and Seahawks imported from the United States.
The MRH-90s—ordered by former Prime Minister John Howard and former Defence Minister Brendan Nelson—cost $3.7 billion; their replacements will cost around $2.8 billion.
