[A-List] UK corporate state: PPPs & military hiccups

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Pilots cannot fly £3bn Army helicopters
By Gavin Cordon
The Independent, 31 October 2002

About half the Army's new Apache attack helicopters, bought for £3bn, will
have to be taken out of service for up to four years because pilots cannot
be trained in time to fly them, the Whitehall spending watchdog warns today.

The National Audit Office said that although the aircraft were being
delivered on time, a private finance initiative deal to train the aircrew
was three years behind schedule. Dozens of aircraft would have to be stored
in hangars because the completion date for the initial training programme
for 144 pilots had been put back from April 2004 to February 2007.

The NAO warned that the delay in training had put in jeopardy the delivery
of the first fully equipped regiment of 16 Apaches, scheduled for February
2005. It said the Army could face a "significant capability gap" because the
life of the TOW wire-guided missiles on its ageing Lynx helicopters could
not be extended.

The NAO also said contractual problems over the supply of spares meant that
the Apaches kept in storage may have to be cannibalised for parts so that
other aircraft could carry on flying.

When the initial order for 67 Apaches was placed with Westland Helicopters
in 1995, its combination of firepower and manoeuvrability was said to offer
the biggest enhancement of the Army's fighting capability since the
introduction of the tank.

Originally it had been intended that Westland, as the prime contractor,
would also supply the training, but the MoD decided that the deal on offer
was "unaffordable". Instead a separate PFI agreement was reached with Atil -
a company jointly owned by Westland and the Apache's US manufacturer
Boeing - which was supposed to save £23m.

But it was beset with problems. The hi-tech flight simulator ran into
technical difficulties which delayed delivery by 17 months and meant pilot
training, originally scheduled for 2001, will not now start until September
next year.

At the same time the duration of the training courses has had to be extended
from 15 weeks to 26 weeks - in part because the helicopter is now much more
sophisticated than had been originally envisaged.

However the original programme was based on the experience of the US Army,
which trains in Alabama, and failed to take account of the fact that many
more flying days are likely to be lost to poor weather in the UK. As a
result, the NAO said that between 2002 and 2006, a "large number" of
Apaches - some estimates say more than half - would have to be stored away
in hangars at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire at a cost of £6m.

Already, 11 of the 25 helicopters so far delivered have been put into
storage.

Although the PFI deal was supposed to save money, the MoD had to write off
£34m due to the cancellation of maintenance courses because Westland failed
to deliver the training material on time.

The NAO also revealed the first Apache crews would have no secure radio
communications with British ground troops or other helicopters - although
they would be able to speak to the Americans - because of delays to the
Army's Bowman radio system.