UK's New Medium Helicopter (NMH) programme
On 22 March 2021, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) published "Defence in a Competitive Age", in which it indicated that it would invest in a new medium-lift helicopter during the mid-2020s.
The new medium helicopter is the successor of four types currently in use with the Armed Forces. It will replace the remaining Puma HC2 and Griffin HAR2 fleets, as well as the Army Air Corps Bell 212HP AH1 (all withdrawn from use by October 2022 and sold on the civil market) and the AS365N3 Dauphin used by the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing.
The MoD published a contract notice on 18 May 2022, officially commencing the competition and confirming the intention to acquire up to 44 helicopters. The contract would also include air and ground crew training as well as in-service technical support and maintenance.
On 30 October 2022, the MoD has downselected the NMH contenders for which it will now issue a detailed Request For Proposal (RFP) ahead of a final type selection and contract. Offers from Airbus, Boeing, Leonardo, and Lockheed Martin passed the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) stage of the NMH requirement. Offers from Bell and AceHawk Aerospace did not pass the PQQ.
The following four helicopters have been offered by their respective manufacturers to meet the anticipated requirements: Airbus Helicopters with the H175M, Boeing with the MH-139 Grey Wolf, Leonardo with the AW149 and Sikorsky, a subsiadary of Lockheed Martin, with the S-70M Black Hawk.
Two companies offered to manufacture the helicopters in the UK; H175M at the Airbus Broughton facility at Hawarden, Leonardo's AW149 at Yeovil. The Sikorsky S-70M will be manufactured at PZL Mielec (Poland). It is not known where Boeing will assemble their MH-139.
The largest element of the NMH requirement is the replacement for the Puma HC2s assigned to 28, 33 and 230 Squadron at RAF Benson. According to the Scramble Magazine database, these units have 23 helicopters in their active inventory, with one detached to 1563 Flight in Brunei.
Although no contract start date was indicated, it is specified as running for seven years from the date of award.
Photo by Martin Fox (Scramble Archive)