AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
The Australian navy has grounded a one-billion dollar (750 million US dollar) fleet of US-built Super Seasprite helicopters over safety concerns, officials said Monday.
The navy ordered 11 of the anti-submarine and anti-shipping helicopters from American company Kaman Aerospace, but none of the 10 delivered since 2001 have been in full operational service due to technical problems.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has now banned the Seasprites from flying and the government is considering scrapping the fleet altogether, national radio reported.
A spokesman for the minister said the problems involved flying at night, over water and in mists.
Nelson said last month that the Seasprites had been an ambitious project, equipping used and refurbished airframes with state-of-the-art technology.
Software problems associated with their electronic equipment had affected flight safety, Nelson was quoted as saying in Monday's Australian newspaper.
It was time to look at what was involved in “getting out of the program,” he said.
The government faced a choice of spending up to 200 million dollars to make the 11 helicopters operational capacity or paying another 1.5 billion dollars for a new fleet, The Australian quoted an unnamed defence source as saying.
