Australia may have gotten rid of the old Huey, but that does not mean we still don’t need its utility.
It is a shame that Defence almost always reaches for the gold-plated answer when procuring something.
In operations other than war and even low intensity conflicts, the new Huey UH-1Y could provide a lot of use for a variety of Australian operations. That includes home/regional disaster events.
It has done well in Afghanistan.
The Y is powerful in its class; made to meet the requirements of the United States Marine Corps and as an off-the-shelf buy has low procurement risk, even for the DMO.
It is not a super helicopter for every solution. It is a very good and proven helicopter for a lot of situations that don’t require the big and more expensive machines.
