The contracts for the contractor owned military registered (COMR) helicopter fleets with UK armed forces are let on the basis of a contracted number of flying hours and availability. The actual numbers of airframes and specific aircraft types used in the fulfilment of the contract are a matter for the contractor to decide, based on their commercial and technical judgement.
The following table gives the unit that utilises the contracted helicopters, the aircraft type currently provided by the contractor, the number of hours per annum required by the contract and the dates the contract commenced and when it is currently due to expire. Some of the contracts have clauses to provide extensions to that expiry date, subject to the agreement of both parties.
Unit Type of aircraft Flying hours per annum Contract commenced Contract expires Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS) Eurocopter Squirrel and Bell Griffin HTl 28,000 (Squirrel); 8,500 (Griffin) November 1996 31 March 2012 Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) Eurocopter AS 3 65 Dauphin 1,500 1 September 2004 31 March 2011 25 Fit AAC, Belize Bell 212 1,200 1 October 2008 30 September 2013 7 Fit AAC, Brunei Bell 212 1,200 1 October 2008 30 September 2013 670 Sqn AAC, Middle Wallop Bell 212 225 1 October 2008 30 September 2013 32 Sqn, RAF Northolt Agusta A109E 900 1 April 2006 31 March 2011 84 Sqn, RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus Bell Griffin HAR2 1,600 1 April 2003 31 March 2010
DHFS consists of 705NAS, 660 Squadron AAC, 60(R) Sqn RAF and Central Flying School (Helicopter) all based at RAF Shawbury, Search and Rescue Training Unit at RAF Valley and elements of 668 and 670 Squadrons AAC at Middle Wallop.
In addition the following contracts for civilian registered and crewed helicopters are let.
Unit Type of aircraft Flying hours per annum Contract commenced Contract expires British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI) Sikorsky S61N 1,800 1 July 2005 30 June 2011 FOST Sikorsky S61N 200 Awarded as extension to Dauphin contract 31 March 2011
(2) what assessment he has made of the helicopter availability requirements of the armed forces in the next 18 to 60 months.
The Department plans its current and future helicopter force on the basis of an assessment of the capability required to achieve military success in a range of military tasks and operational scenarios. For instance our helicopter force is currently required to support: overseas expeditionary operations in Afghanistan, anti-piracy and other maritime operations and support to the civil authorities within the UK. The Royal Navy and RAF Sea King fleets also contribute to the provision of Search and Rescue Capability. A proportion of the fleet is at all times engaged in providing live training to crews, ensuring they are fully prepared for deployment on current operations and contingent tasks.
Our helicopter requirements are kept under constant review. The requirement for helicopter capability on operations is set by the Permanent Joint Headquarters. Our current fleet is meeting the operational requirement but we recognise we can always do more with more, and this is why Secretary of State for Defence, right hon. Bob Ainsworth announced on 15 December 2009 a new Future Rotary Wing Strategy, of which the key element is the procurement of at Chinook helicopters delivering some 40 per cent. more support helicopters suitable for operations in demanding environments such as Afghanistan by 2016. The new strategy will also see the retirement of the whole Sea King fleet by early 2016 allowing the MOD to operate, by around 2022 four broadly equal sized core helicopter fleets of Chinook, Apache, Wildcat and Merlin.