Singapore Close To Super Puma Replacement Choice

by Mike Yeo
- April 20, 2016, 8:19 AM


Singapore has routinely operated its Super Pumas at sea, and the replacement must also have this capability. (Photo: RSAF)

Singapore is close to selecting a replacement for its Super Puma medium-lift helicopters. The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) currently operates the survivors of 34 Super Pumas acquired in 1985 and 1991, which subsequently had an avionics and capability upgrade beginning in the latter half of the 2000s. The RSAF is also planning to replace some older Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.

In a recent speech to the Singapore Parliament, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said that the country is “finalizing our evaluations and expects the new RSAF helicopters soon.” Typically very secretive about its military acquisition programs, Singapore has neither announced the number of Super Puma replacements it is seeking nor disclosed the specifics of its requirement. However, the AgustaWestland AW101, Airbus Helicopters NH90 and H225M Caracal, and Sikorsky S-92 were prominent in the display halls at the recent Singapore Airshow, which could point to the likely contenders for the replacement program.

The RSAF uses the Super Pumas and Chinooks primarily in support of army operations, lifting troops and underslung equipment. In addition, both types have carried out search-and-rescue (SAR) missions in Singapore’s large SAR region and supported humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in the region.

It is expected that the Super Puma replacement will need to at least match the older helicopter’s troop-lift capacity of 24 soldiers. Another requirement would be the ability to operate from the helicopter deck of the Republic of Singapore Navy’s new Independence-class littoral mission vessels (LMVs). This requirement could make it difficult for the larger helicopters believed to be under consideration, given the limited space on the 80-meter LMVs.

Ng noted that some of the Chinooks operated by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) are aging and need replacing. While he did not go into specifics, the defense minister was almost certainly referring to the six Boeing CH-47D Chinooks currently operating with the RSAF’s Peace Prairie training detachment based with the Texas Army National Guard at Grand Prairie, Texas.

These aircraft were ordered in 1994 and delivered in 1996, and differ in configuration from the 10 CH-47SDs Singapore ordered in 1997. These featured improvements that included digital engine controls and glass cockpits and have been put through a mid-life upgrade that started in 2012 that included software improvements to the digital automatic flight control system, addition of a position and status reporting system along with a dual rescue hoist. This brings them close to, if not already equivalent to, the current-production CH-47F model.

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-ne...acement-choice