Ukraine has requested the transfer of the MRH-90, but there has been no response from Australia.
Australia continues to dismantle MRH-90 Taipan helicopters (local name and Airbus version of NH90), which was launched back in late 2023 and has not been officially announced.
ABC News writes about this.
Ukraine made an official request for the transfer of MRH -90 December 19, 2023, despite well-documented aircraft safety and operational problems.
Australia decommissioned its helicopters in September 2023 – 14 months earlier than planned. The reason is security problems. In the summer of 2023, one of the helicopters was involved in an accident, resulting in the death of four Australian soldiers.
According to Defense Express, we are talking about 45 helicopters that have been taken out of service due to low reliability and are gradually being replaced by UH-60M Black Hawk.
Ukrainians in Australia are outraged
The Australian government's decision to scrap helicopters outraged local Ukrainians, who organized protests and demanded that the country's authorities hand over the equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces
“We assess the risks differently. We are at war,” said Anton Bogdanovich, who took part in organizing the Ukrainian rally in Sydney this Sunday, January 14.
The Union of Ukrainian Organizations in Australia calls on the Australian government to transfer these helicopters to Ukraine.
According to Union co-chair Stefan Romaniv, these 45 Australian Taipans will more than double the number of all helicopters that Ukraine has received since the start of the full-scale invasion.
“It would be cheaper to deliver them to Ukraine than to destroy them. At a cost of $920 million, they would double the amount of support Australia has provided to Ukraine so far. Where are the cons?,” he said.
“Taipans would change the rules (of war – Ed.) for Ukraine, helping strengthen air defense and protect country and people from the barbaric and cruel invasion of Russia,” Romanov continued.
He noted that the Australian government has begun to help Ukraine less than at the beginning of the Russian invasion, and “support packages have become less frequent.”
Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasily Miroshnichenko said that so far no response has been received from the Australian government to the request for the transfer of these helicopters.
Why Australia won't just give away the helicopters
Defense Express admitted why Australia does not want to give these helicopters to Ukraine:
“Significantly more intensive operation of the NH90 in real combat conditions may demonstrate significantly greater shortcomings that will cost not only the reputation of Airbus, but also the lives of the Ukrainian military,” the publication suggests.
However, journalists note that these points are only their personal assumptions.
Note that Norway and Sweden also abandoned these helicopters in 2022.
Recall that in the summer it was reported that Ukraine could receive F/A-18 Hornet fighters from Australia, but the matter did not progress beyond talk.
Probably the most famous weapons that Ukraine received from Australia were the Bushmaster armored personnel carriers, which proved themselves well at the front, in particular during the liberation of the Kharkov region in the fall of 2022.
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