Australia to dispose of MRH-90 Taipan helicopters instead of transferring them to Ukraine
They will not be transferred to Kyiv due to safety and operational issues, the country's Defense Ministry said
The Australian authorities have decided to dispose of the decommissioned MRH-90 Taipan helicopters, which Kyiv had previously requested to be transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Source. This was reported by ABC.
In September 2023, Australia decided to decommission 47 helicopters ahead of schedule. This happened after the crash of this type of aircraft, which killed four people. The crashed helicopter was participating in the large Talisman Sabre exercise, which was conducted jointly with the United States.
Initially, the helicopters were planned to be retired no earlier than 2037, but due to numerous problems that led to the suspension of flights, the plans were revised. Instead of the decommissioned vessels, Australia purchased 40 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters from the United States.
In mid-December, Ukraine sent an official request to Canberra to transfer these helicopters to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The co-chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations, Kateryna Argiru, noted that sending them to the front is important because Russia maintains air superiority.
However, according to ABC, the process of dismantling the Taipan has already begun. A representative of the Australian Ministry of Defense said that the machines will be disposed of in an "environmentally friendly and cost-effective way." They will not be transferred to Kyiv due to safety and operational issues.
At the same time, Ukraine's Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Miroshnychenko expressed hope that the possibility of receiving the decommissioned aircraft "still exists."
"We have not yet received any response to the request to transfer the helicopters to Kyiv," Miroshnychenko said.
Prior to this, a number of Western countries have transferred helicopters to Ukraine. For example, the United States sent UH-60 Black Hawk and the United Kingdom sent Sea King. Latvia, the Czech Republic and other countries promised to send helicopters to Kyiv.
Australia has provided a total of 910 million Australian dollars, or about $610 million, in humanitarian and military aid to Kyiv.
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