English
Like any member of the UN, Romania has an annual membership fee to pay. The amount can be reduced or fully offset by providing some services. One way for Romania to meet these obligations would be to make available 10-12 military helicopters to the UN to use on its missions. In order to deal with the specific demands of the UN, the helicopters of the Romanian Ministry of Defense need to be upgraded.
IAR Ghimbav has responded to a call for tender from the Ministry of Defense for the modernization of 12 Puma Helicopters, which the Ministry holds. The total price asked for by the Romanian manufacturer (which is owned by the state) was 68 million Euros, for 12 helicopters fully equipped for the demands of the UN missions.
Romania's intention to make available to the UN its helicopters is however being speculated by Airbus Helicopters, which - through Malta Lease Company - is proposing to Romania a contract, by which the country would be expected to buy 10 Airbus H 215 Super Puma helicopters, which would be leased under the UN banner with a limit of 600 hours of flight per unit, for humanitarian missions and to preserve peace.
The asking price, according to the proposal, is approximately 15 million Euros per helicopter. Upon a simple calculation, 10 helicopters would cost no less than 150 million Euros, in their standard versions, without the specific equipments that would further increase the price.
In the offer sent to Romtehnica, Malta Lease Company also mentions that a French general, detached with the UN, will join the team that will be preparing the contract with Romania and the UN.
Looking at the deal from the point of view of public spending, a few questions arise:
1. Why should Romania pay 100 million Euros more, to offer the UN Super Puma helicopters, when the Puma helicopters satisfy those requirements as well?
2. Is it really a wise decision for Romania to buy H 215 Super Puma helicopters, when - it is known fact - due to some serious flaws (perhaps even design related), they have had a large enough number of crashes compared to the total number of almost 200 civilian helicopters of that type in the world (!) to be banned from flying, since back in spring this yea?!?
3. Are the decision makers aware that as a result, Norway and Indonesia have denounced the contracts to buy 7, and 3, H 215 Super Puma helicopters, respectively?
4. Are the ten helicopters being offered to Romania precisely the ones that have been left without a buyer?
5. Is the visit of the French president connected to this contract?
French president, Francois Hollande, will be inaugurating the Airbus plant in Ghimbav this week. According to Serge Durand, the CEO of Airbus Helicopters Industries, the first helicopter made at Ghimbav will only be delivered at the end of 2017, and the maximum capacity, of 20 helicopters a year, will only be reached in 2020. Let's hope they are going to be produced and not just assembled! At any rate, the small number of helicopters considered for production makes us believe that the investment by Airbus essentially targets only the Romanian market...
• This summer, the EU banned the flight of Puma helicopters
A few months ago, the European Union placed a flight ban on the civilian version of the Puma aircraft, Reuters reports. An Airbus H225 Super Puma helicopter, which was carrying passengers from an oil platform run by Statoil, crashed on April 13th, causing the death of 13 people. This latter accident was caused by the main rotor blades separating from the aircraft. Following the accident, the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) has decided to ban Airbus H225 LP and AS332 L2 Super Puma helicopters from flying. The EASA has announced that the ban is applicable in all European Union countries.
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