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Image courtesy of the RAF.
AÉROSPATIALE SA 330 PUMA
An RAF Puma Mk2 taking off from its home base, Royal Air Force Benson airbase in the United Kingdom.
THE PUMA P R O W L S
A G A I N
The Modernization Of The RAF's Puma Fleet Proved Many Detractors Wrong. Limiting Upgrades To Necessities Rather Than "Nice To Haves" Resulted In An Impressive Extension To The Model's Out-Of-Service Date. By Andrew Drwiega
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very nation wants to be armed with the newest and the best aircraft and equipment. A highly capable modern force not only contributes toward a nation's military being an effective deterrent, it also builds national pride among the populace of the country. But buying new does not always have to be the only option. Even in the context of the incredible cost of today's high-tech military systems, sometimes, a new WWW.ABDONLINE.COM
model is the most appropriate choice. And sometimes new is justified when an aviation platform passes the point where proposed upgrades cannot produce an outcome that justifies the investment. The latter was the case for the U.S. Army's Bell Helicopter OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. After years of the Army trying to replace it, the combined impact of sequestration and the cost of the proposed life-extension program finally resulted in it no longer being
feasible to justify the cost of additional upgrades. By contrast, Boeing's CH-47 Chinook, even though it first flew in 1961, five years before the OH-58D, has been successfully adapted and upgraded over time. The model's size and role add to the difficulty of designing a replacement that would not be prohibitively expensive. Thus, it has continued to serve as the U.S. Army's front-line, heavy-lift rotorcraft. At the same time, the CH-53, a rival helicopter made by Sikorsky (now owned by Lockheed Martin), is being further refined in its newest version, the CH-53K King Stallion. Development work was approved by the U.S. Congress at the end of 2005 for a replacement for the CH-53E used by the U.S. Marine Corps. At the end of 2005, Congress approved Research Development Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) efforts during the Fiscal Year 2007. Yet the project has been drawn out, due to engineering difficulties and government concerns regarding rising costs, to the extent that production deliveries are not expected to begin until 2020. There are occasions, however, where extending an older platform initially is met with objections and dissent, but actually is managed in a way that ultimately justifies the cost
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