Il Regno Unito alla ricerca di nuovi elicotteri SAR .....

[richelieu]

A fine settimana scade il termine utile per la presentazione delle offerte da parte delle aziende che intendono partecipare .....

Bid Deadline Nears For U.K. SAR Helo Contracts .....

By Anthony Osborne
Source: Aerospace Daily & Defense Report (AW&ST) - December 12, 2012


LONDON — Helicopter operators vying for the upcoming U.K. long-term search-and-rescue helicopter contracts will hand in their final bids at the end of this week.

Bond Offshore Helicopters, Bristow Group and CHC will submit their final bids for the 10-12-year contracts — each of which covers SAR services in a different region — to the U.K. Department for Transport on Dec. 14. The department is due to make a decision on the contracts next March.

The introduction of the new SAR-H or “Long SAR” contracts will bring an end to the involvement of the U.K. Ministry of Defense in the provision of SAR helicopters, allowing the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy to focus their activity on front-line operations and enabling ministry officials to meet their announced intention to retire its fleet of Sea Kings by the end of 2016.

The helicopters had been due to be replaced through the SAR-H program, but the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project was abandoned in February 2011 after irregularities were found in the bidding process for the £6 billion ($9.6 billion) contract.

The new contracts, worth between £2-3 billion, will see SAR helicopters being provided by civilian helo operators flying a new generation of modern aircraft. Because of the competitive process under way, few details of what the three operators plan to offer are available. But they will probably be offering a mix of medium and heavy helicopters, including the Eurocopter EC225 and EC175; the Sikorsky S-92; and the AgustaWestland AW189 and AW139. Heavier helicopters are likely to be based in Northern Scotland, England and Wales, while smaller aircraft will be based in the south of England.

The three companies were shortlisted in July. Other firms that competed for the contracts included Belgian company Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen (NHV), while the Osprey Consortium of British International Helicopters, Babcock and Era Helicopters dropped out in May.

AgustaWestland has offered to build all SAR-equipped AW189s in the U.K. at its facilities in Yeovil should its aircraft be chosen. Meanwhile, Eurocopter said it would create a center of excellence for SAR helicopters at its U.K. base in Oxford should the EC175 be chosen.

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Ora i concorrenti si sono ridotti a due .....

U.K. SAR Helo Program Down To Two Bidders .....

Fonte ..... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 533151.xml

[richelieu]

La competizione ..... come da previsioni .....

"AgustaWestland and Sikorsky set to win out in UK SAR contest" .....
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ar-382607/

..... era stata vinta dal Gruppo Bristow .....

To replace the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force AgustaWestland Sea King fleets, from 2015 Bristow will bring in new AgustaWestland AW189s and Sikorsky S-92s, says the UK Department for Transport (DfT) announcing the award on 26 March.
The new operation will be fully active from 2017, it adds.

Fonte ..... "Bristow wins £1.6bn UK search and rescue deal" .....
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... al-383874/


Alcune notizie successive .....

"First UK SAR AW189s to be delivered next year" .....
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ar-383967/

"AW189 gains EASA certification" .....
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... on-395734/



"Bristow takes first S-92 for UK SAR" .....
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ar-403451/

"Bristow receives first S-92 helo for UK search-and-rescue duties" .....
http://www.janes.com/article/42926/bris ... cue-duties
.

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Qualche ritardo .....

"Bristow still waiting on AW189 SAR introduction" .....
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... on-416808/

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Alla fine ..... ce l' ha fatta .....

Leonardo’s helicopter division has finally received long-awaited certification for the full icing protection system (FIPS) on its AgustaWestland AW189, allowing the super-medium twin to begin search and rescue operations in the UK.
Operator Bristow Group – whose UK subsidiary Bristow Helicopters has a 10-year contract to run SAR services in the country – says approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency for the FIPS was granted on 29 June.

Fonte ..... "AW189 finally receives EASA approval for FIPS" .....
.

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Lee-on-Solent sarà la prima .....

Lee-on-Solent will be the first of the UK’s new search and rescue bases to receive AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters, following the recent certification of the full icing protection system (FIPS) on the super-medium twin.
Speaking at the Farnborough air show, Russell Torbet, director of UK SAR at Bristow Helicopters, said the AW189 would be introduced from 1 April at the south coast site.

Fonte ..... "FARNBOROUGH: Bristow confirms Lee-on-Solent as first AW189 SAR site" .....
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Lunga vita al Sea King ...

On the face of it, a UK company flying former Royal Navy (RN) Westland Sea King helicopters on behalf of the German navy from a former coastguard base in the very south of England sounds an unlikely combination, or at least the set-up for a convoluted joke.
But for Portland-based HeliOperations, that union is proving a lucrative one.
Rewind to the last Farnborough air show and one of the more eye-catching exhibits on the static line was a Sea King in a confusing orange and grey colour scheme.
Confusing, because at first glance it strongly resembled the familiar red and grey of the RN’s retired Sea King Mk5s and seemed to have no right to be at an event famed for celebrating all that is new in aerospace. Indeed, were it not for the show’s absence, the type would again have been at the Hampshire site this year.

... flightglobal.com ... "Why Sea Kings still rule for HeliOperations" ...
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