Royal New Zealand Air Force

[kiwi in exile]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-09/us-to-sell-12-attack-helicopters-to-australia-aukus-/100526744

Th RAN looks to be getting rid of its 6 MRH90s and replacing them with seahawks.
This could be an opportunity to acquire a couple of cheap marinised NH90 airframes to boost our fleet. Could be useful on Canterbury missions (HADR, resupply of outer islands, etc)or on the Aotearoa. I feel we got a good deal buying the Aussie Super Seasprites.

How compatable are the RNA helos with our fleet? & do they have auto folding rotors?

 

[aussienscale]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-09/us-to-sell-12-attack-helicopters-to-australia-aukus-/100526744

Th RAN looks to be getting rid of its 6 MRH90s and replacing them with seahawks.
This could be an opportunity to acquire a couple of cheap marinised NH90 airframes to boost our fleet. Could be useful on Canterbury missions (HADR, resupply of outer islands, etc)or on the Aotearoa. I feel we got a good deal buying the Aussie Super Seasprites.

How compatable are the RNA helos with our fleet? & do they have auto folding rotors?

Good luck with that, you will have to fight the Australian Army for them !! They are going back into Army's pool.

 

[ngatimozart]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-09/us-to-sell-12-attack-helicopters-to-australia-aukus-/100526744

Th RAN looks to be getting rid of its 6 MRH90s and replacing them with seahawks.
This could be an opportunity to acquire a couple of cheap marinised NH90 airframes to boost our fleet. Could be useful on Canterbury missions (HADR, resupply of outer islands, etc)or on the Aotearoa. I feel we got a good deal buying the Aussie Super Seasprites.

How compatable are the RNA helos with our fleet? & do they have auto folding rotors?

Nope they are part of the ADF MRH-90 pool and the Australian Army will have them. There’s no intent to divest them from the ADF.

 

[kiwi in exile]

Afghanistan evacuation: From 'not feasible' to underway within days

Nothing really groundbreaking here. I'm a fan of newsroom.
Also a fan of Penk:

National Party defence spokesman Chris Penk said it was “hugely frustrating” to see Operation Protect cited as a potential constraint for the NZDF as it weighed its options for Afghanistan.

“It is farcical that the New Zealand Government was employing highly trained service personnel as hotel managers and security at the very moment that real operational manpower was needed to save Kiwi lives overseas,” Penk said.

NZDF members had been “sounding the warning siren” for months about the opportunity cost of the military’s MIQ duties, given they were already “a bare bones operation at the best of times”.

.

 

[Nighthawk.NZ]

I see the RNZAF are off for another mission in SCS sancitions against North Korea... this is there 5th in the last few years.

Air force plane to help enforce sanctions on North Korea

 

[ngatimozart]

The RNZAF has reported that NH90 NZ3302 has reached 2,000 flying hours. This is the first NH90 in the world to reach this milestone.

Milestone RNZAF NH90 (scramble.nl)

 

[Nighthawk.NZ]

The RNZAF has reported that NH90 NZ3302 has reached 2,000 flying hours. This is the first NH90 in the world to reach this milestone.

Milestone RNZAF NH90 (scramble.nl)

To be fair it's serial construction number 1206 ... and it is the first in the world to reach 2000 flying hours... it means the NH-90's are over worked and we don't have enough air frames to spread the work load out over the entire fleet. No something to be proud of really.

 

[Rob c]

To be fair it's serial construction number 1206 ... and it is the first in the world to reach 2000 flying hours... it means the NH-90's are over worked and we don't have enough air frames to spread the work load out over the entire fleet. No something to be proud of really.

Yes this is true, but it does also mean that the RNZAF personal have managed to keep the serviceability and availability rates high enough to achieve this and that is something to be proud of. We all know that there was never enough NH90's procured in the first place so let us at least celebrate the accomplishments of our service personal and how good they really are even if the never get the government support they and the rest of NZD deserve.

 

[Nighthawk.NZ]

Yes this is true, but it does also mean that the RNZAF personal have managed to keep the serviceability and availability rates high enough to achieve this and that is something to be proud of. We all know that there was never enough NH90's procured in the first place so let us at least celebrate the accomplishments of our service personal and how good they really are even if the never get the government support they and the rest of NZD deserve.

I will give you that and agree the NZDF/RNZAF personal have done great job with what thy have been given...

 

[ASSAIL]

I will give you that and agree the NZDF/RNZAF personal have done great job with what thy have been given...

Well done the personnel but I’m tempted to add, there goes the entire fleets budget allocation.
I’d love to know the cost per flight hour but an apples v apples comparison is tough to get.

 

[Rob c]

There was an interesting sight at lunch time over Marton and that was a diamond 9 formation of T6's flew over the town then turned back towards Ohakea. What they were up to I do not know, but to have 9 out of 11 airborne at the same time is not to bad.

 

[Gooey]

Rob c,
today we should be putting the last of our 14 & 75SQN F-16s into the RNZAF Museum and announcing the IOC of our F-35 fleet. Instead, our P-8 recce birds, all 4 of them, are not here yet and are not armed and .... well, that's it. Everything else is support stuff.
Good on the T6 boys & girls but it just makes me weep.

 

[recce.k1]

There was an interesting sight at lunch time over Marton and that was a diamond 9 formation of T6's flew over the town then turned back towards Ohakea. What they were up to I do not know, but to have 9 out of 11 airborne at the same time is not to bad.

Perhaps they could be marking the achievement of having all 9 airworthy at the moment!

Because it looks like two T-6's are unavailable (from checking FlightRadar freebie version). NZ1402 and NZ1411 aren't showing a history (within the last 7 days for me). NZ1402 was damaged in 2018 (have repairs concluded)?

Word is RNZAF could do with another 1-2 new T-6's even just to cover current pilot training demands.

Would be a relatively cheap acquisition, but is it somehow not a (joint) NZDF priority (assuming it is for RNZAF)?

 

[Rob c]

Rob c,
today we should be putting the last of our 14 & 75SQN F-16s into the RNZAF Museum and announcing the IOC of our F-35 fleet. Instead, our P-8 recce birds, all 4 of them, are not here yet and are not armed and .... well, that's it. Everything else is support stuff.
Good on the T6 boys & girls but it just makes me weep.

Or upgrading them to the latest standard would have been more likely. 2 sqd was the other unit that was meant to operate the F16 not 14.

Word is RNZAF could do with another 1-2 new T-6's even just to cover current pilot training demands.

Yep, agree as they have been doing a lot of weekend flying of late.

 

[ngatimozart]

There was an interesting sight at lunch time over Marton and that was a diamond 9 formation of T6's flew over the town then turned back towards Ohakea. What they were up to I do not know, but to have 9 out of 11 airborne at the same time is not to bad.

RNZAF Facebook page said it was the QFI flying the aircraft:
"The formation was led by experienced instructor SQNLDR Patch Nelson who recently achieved 1000hrs total dual instruction flying time with the Officer Commanding 14 SQN SQNLDR Nathan Barrack also in the lead aircraft.
Shout out to Beechcraft New Zealand and Airbus for enabling nine serviceable aircraft for this activity, and to the local community for the support shown to our Air Force."

#Force4NZ #NZAirForce
















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[Rob c]

Another good sight locally as we had the Spitfire and Avenger doing a lap of the town together and then separately for the local christmas parade.

 

[Shanesworld]

Or upgrading them to the latest standard would have been more likely. 2 sqd was the other unit that was meant to operate the F16 not 14.

Yep, agree as they have been doing a lot of weekend flying of late.

Does anyone know of the top of their head what the operating budget was supposed to have been for the 28 (22 operated) f16's when the deal was supposed to happen?

 

[ngatimozart]

Another good sight locally as we had the Spitfire and Avenger doing a lap of the town together and then separately for the local christmas parade.

Brendan Deere does a great job with his Biggin Hill Hangar at Ohakea. His uncle Al would be very proud of him. Be great when he gets John Smith's Mustang airworthy. The engine is in the US being worked on at the moment.

 

[Rob c]

Does anyone know of the top of their head what the operating budget was supposed to have been for the 28 (22 operated) f16's when the deal was supposed to happen?

I don't know the actual budget, but I do remember that there was press release by the government at the time the F16's were ordered that stated that the operational and capital budget showed a significant reduction over the A4 due to upcoming work required to keep the A4 flying and the gradual increase in the operating costs of the A4 due to its age. I also remember the air force saying that they would have been reduced to 12 aircraft by 2006 due to fatigue problems , unless significant work was carried out. This was, from memory in the rear fuselage and fin area, probably due to our hash flying conditions, at low level we get in NZ. .

 

[ImJustDubzzz]

I don't know the actual budget, but I do remember that there was press release by the government at the time the F16's were ordered that stated that the operational and capital budget showed a significant reduction over the A4 due to upcoming work required to keep the A4 flying and the gradual increase in the operating costs of the A4 due to its age.

On page 29 of this PDF there are the estimated costs for operating the F-16s, for the purposes of that review option 1 and 2 are assumed to be F-16s.