Is the New Medium Helicopter competition now a one horse race?
February 16, 2025
Though the programme is rarely spoken about, the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) seems to be moving ahead, albeit slowly, and reporting has been limited by commercial confidentiality, military secrecy and political sensitivity.
There have been reports that the MoD ceased NMH negotiations in January, and others that the programme will move to its next phase of ‘preferred bidder’ selection next month. Negotiations will start in the next financial year, presumably after the Strategic Defence Review ‘lands’. IOC is now expected in 2029. It was originally planned for 2025.
On 10 February 2025 Defence Minister Maria Eagle (the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry) dropped some hints about the programme when she answered a question from Edward Morello, MP for West Dorset, whose constituency is adjacent to the Leonardo Helicopters factory at Yeovil, and who asked: “What the planned timetable is for awarding the new medium helicopter contract?”
Eagle said that: “The new medium helicopter competition is at the evaluation and approval stage. If everything goes well, I anticipate a contract award later this year, subject to all the usual approvals.”
Morello noted that: “A significant number of my constituents contribute to the defence sector, whether through apprenticeships, graduate roles or skilled employment. Many were schooled in West Dorset and now work in the surrounding areas, including for firms such as Leonardo in the neighbouring constituency of Yeovil.” he said. “What assurances can the Minister give that contracts such as the new medium helicopter will be awarded quickly so that the futures of the many apprentices and employees in the defence sector are protected?”
Acknowledging the potential impact on the local workforce, and apparently hinting that the new helicopter would be built in Yeovil (thereby suggesting that the AW149 had been selected), Eagle answered that: “The honourable Gentleman is right: some of these programmes can take a long time to get to contract. In fact, this programme experienced delays in securing outline business case approval under the previous Government. I hope that we can get it to the end of the line as swiftly as possible, in accordance with the current process, and that some of his constituents will benefit from having work to do on the new programme.”
The New Medium Helicopter programme is an initiative that is intended to lead to the acquisition of a modern medium-lift support helicopter, addressing multiple rotary wing
requirements but primarily required to replace the ageing RAF Puma fleet. NMH aims to improve the UK Armed Forces’ mobility and tactical lift capabilities, enhancing efficiency and operational flexibility.
The Government has confirmed that the tender evaluation is now ongoing and is expected to complete in the first half of 2025.
As originally framed, the NMH programme was supposed to replace the RAF’s fleet of 23 Westland/Aerospatiale Puma HC.Mk 2s operated by No.s 33 and 230 Squadrons from RAF Benson, three SAR-roled Griffin HAR.Mk 2s (Bell 412s) operated by the RAF’s No.84 Squadron from RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus, five Bell 212s serving with the Army Air Corps’ No.667 Squadron in Brunei, and six special-forces assigned AS365N3 Dauphin IIs operated by No.658 Squadron, AAC from the Special Air Service (SAS) barracks at Credenhill in Herefordshire. The total number of aircraft would be informed by the bidders, but was said to be up to 44 aircraft.
In July 2023, the CEO of Airbus Helicopters UK, Lenny Brown, reportedly said that industry had been informed that the requirement had been reduced and capped at 35 aircraft.
On 18 April 2024, the UK MoD announced that it had awarded a £122 million contract to Airbus Helicopters for six H145s to fulfil the Brunei and Cyprus elements of NMH (which were by then being operated by RAF Pumas, the Bell 212s and 412s having retired). The then-Minister of State James Cartlidge said that the number of helicopters to be procured under the NMH requirement remained the same, and the MoD said that there had been “no change to the scope of the advertised New Medium Helicopter Contract Notice and Defence remains committed to this programme.”
ADS Advance, however, reported that the assigned budget had been reduced to £950 million (including VAT) from the original tender value of £1.2 million (plus VAT), including training, spares and an initial five-year period of in-service support. ADS also reported that the requirement had been reduced to a minimum of 23 helicopters, with extra scoring for each extra helicopter up to a total of 33 aircraft. This minimum number was directly equivalent to the existing Puma fleet size.
Three teams led by Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo UK and Lockheed Martin UK were issued with an invitation to negotiate (ITN) for the NMH programme by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) in February 2024, but as the year progressed, there were growing suspicions that some of the bidders would pull out, citing an inability to meet requirements within the budget set out by the MoD.
The MoD set a deadline of 31 August for responses to its invitation to negotiate (ITN), and, at the last moment, Airbus and Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky announced that they would not be proceeding with their bids, leaving Leonardo as the sole bidder with the AW149.
In December 2024, Sharon Graham, the general secretary of ‘Unite the Union’ urged the Secretary of Defence, John Healey, to reaffirm and act on the UK government’s commitment to build the NMH programme at the Leonardo site in Yeovil.
The site supports 2,800 directly employed workers, with thousands more working as contractors or within the Leonardo supply chain.
“These are highly skilled workers and a further delay in awarding this contract would have disastrous consequences for the long-term future of this factory,” Sharon Graham said.
Adam Clarke, the managing director of Leonardo Helicopters UK, said that: “We are very positive about the progress of the New Medium Helicopter competition and are in close contact with the Ministry of Defence as they proceed with the evaluation and approval process. The NMH requirement is well established; the Minister has confirmed that the competition remains on track and we are confident in our offer. Our talented, passionate and highly-skilled people stand ready to provide our AW149 from Yeovil, the home of British helicopters.”
With the RAF’s Pumas in Cyprus and Brunei due to retire in March 2025 (together with those still in use for training at Benson), and the new H145s not expected until 2026, there will be a capability gap. Responding on 10 December 2024 to a question about potential capability gaps following the Puma’s retirement, Maria Eagle insisted that any capability gap in Cyprus and Brunei would be “fulfilled by another platform or mitigated by other means” before the introduction of the H145. What these “other means” might be was not specified.
