State of Air Force helicopters even worse than transport jets
The mission-readiness of New Zealand’s military helicopters has plunged below that of the beleaguered pair of transport jets as the Air Force battles to retain skilled staff.
New figures released by the New Zealand Defence Force show the serviceability of the Air Force’s fleet of eight NH90 helicopters nosedived to 34 per cent in January, down from 68 per cent in 2022 and 51 per cent last year.
The serviceability of the Navy’s
Seasprites is even lower, at just 11 per cent in January.
The culprit is the well-publicised staffing woes of the Defence Force, especially among technicians, who can command higher pay in the private sector.
A Defence Force spokesperson confirmed the reduction in NH90 serviceability — meaning the overall mission-readiness of the fleet — was a result of high attrition among the Air Force’s technical workforce.
“This coincided with 2023 being the busiest year yet for NH90 flying operations which subsequently generated an increase in maintenance,” the spokesperson said.
Those operations included the response to Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle and deployments to Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Australia.
In addition to the attrition of technical staff, maintenance personnel were required to go abroad on these deployments, reducing the number of personnel available back home at O¯hakea airbase to keep the other choppers airworthy.
“The prioritisation of maintenance support to operational demands results in aircraft maintenance taking longer to achieve as fewer maintenance tasks can be completed at the same time.”
A related helicopter used by the Australian Air Force, the MRH90 Taipan, was retired early after a fatal crash during a training exercise killed four personnel. The Royal New Zealand Air Force briefly paused NH90 flights for a risk assessment.
A Defence spokesman said the reduced serviceability of the NH90s was not linked to the retirement of the Taipans across the Ditch.
Figures featured in documents released by the Defence Force under the Official Information Act show the two Air Force Boeing 757 transport jets had a serviceability of 43 per cent in January and 47 per cent last year.
The ageing 757s were again the subject of scrutiny and criticism this month after problems with one of the aircraft’s nose gear delayed Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s trip to Australia to meet Asean leaders.
The breakdown was labelled embarrassing by ministers and sparked renewed questions over whether the aircraft needed to be replaced, after several other breakdowns in recent years.
But Defence Minister Judith Collins said there was no money to replace the planes any time soon.
The serviceability of the new P-8A Poseidon fleet, introduced last year to replace the P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, was 63 per cent in 2023 and rising to 70 per cent in January this year, Defence figures show. That is on par with mission capability rates in the United States Air Force.