Australia’s Refusal to Supply Helicopters to Ukraine ‘Scandalous’, Critics Say

Australian Army MRH-90 Taipan helicopters prepare to land at Townsville, during Exercise Brolga Run 23, in Australia, in May 10, 2023. LCPL Riley Blennerhassett/ADF via AP

Australia has formally rejected a request from Ukraine to use its fleet of Taipan MRH-90 helicopters, saying they’re being dismantled, but defence commentators say the aircraft should still be flying and have characterised the refusal as “scandalous.”

After one of the aircraft crashed on a training exercise in Queensland last year, killing four defence personnel, all 45 were grounded. They are now being dismantled for eventual burial, the government says.

Four months before the fatal crash in July, 10 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel were forced to ditch an MRH-90 helicopter into the water at Jervis Bay, on the NSW south coast. Eyewitnesses reported seeing sparks at the top of the rotor blades and an explosion before the helicopter crashed.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the Defence Department worked with Airbus and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to find a potential buyer for the airframes, but there was “zero interest,” so it was decided to strip them and try to sell spare parts.

People ‘Dying Unnecessarily’

Despite their troubled history, Ukraine requested the helicopters for medevac use shortly before Christmas, pleading with Australia to “help save Ukrainian lives,” prevent people from “dying unnecessarily,” and “dramatically increase the survivability of our frontline defenders.”

However, Mr. Conroy said that it would be “irresponsible for us to move away from the disposal strategy that we’ve locked in.”

Ukraine’s request “came in three months after the disposal strategy began, three months after these aircraft were grounded, three months after maintenance ceased on these aircraft,” he said.

Australian Minister of Defence Pat Conroy. supplied, Australian Department of Defence

But Ukrainian World Congress Vice President Stefan Romaniw said: “Ukraine needs military support, now. I’ve just come back from Ukraine, the military there has asked to pass on a message, ‘help now because we need it now, Russian attacks are horrendous at the moment.’ We believe that these Taipans, these helicopters would be of great need in Ukraine—for us, [it’s] very, very important that we get the message across to the Australian government: Ukraine needs more help now.”

‘National embarrassment’: Former Major-General

And in a post on social media site X (formerly Twitter), retired Army Major General Mick Ryan—now a consultant military strategist at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and the Lowy Institute—called it a “scandalous” decision.

“Rushing to bury useable helicopters rather than transferring them to a nation fighting for its life is shameful and a national embarrassment,” he said.

He accused the Australian government of “doing a world-class job in being non-transparent and obfuscating the issue.”

That criticism was echoed by the editor of Asia Pacific Defence Reporter, Kym Bergmann, a former defence industry executive.

In an article headlined “No, Minister—Taipan helicopters are extremely safe,” he claimed the fatal accident in Queensland “had nothing to do with the helicopter itself” and characterised Mr. Conroy’s comments as part of an ongoing “smear campaign” by the government.

The Taipan’s Mr. Bergmann said they were “remarkably safe, with many more safety features than the Black Hawks that will replace them.”

“In the meantime, Ukraine will just have to keep fighting on in the knowledge that rather than save the lives of their wounded soldiers, Australia instead prefers to bury helicopters that they no longer want,” he said.

Emergency workers carry a wounded woman after a Russian rocket hit a multistory building on Saturday in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Jan. 15, 2023. Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/AP Photo

Former head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Peter Jennings—who is also a former deputy secretary at the Department of Defence—also entered the debate, calling the decision “one of the most puzzling” he has seen a government make and saying it was the “worst possible outcome.” He speculated that it was simply the “cheapest thing to do” to disassemble and bury the helicopters.

And the director of Strategic Analysis Australia, Michael Shoebridge, characterised it as a “major error by the Albanese government” but also blamed the Defence Department, which he said “runs” the Minister (Richard Marles).

“And it turns out the only thing the Defence Department can do quickly is make mistakes,” Mr. Shoebridge said.

Perhaps the harshest criticism came from Australia’s former Ambassador to the European Union, Mark Higgie, writing in the Spectator, who called Prime Minister Albanese “Putin’s useful idiot down under” over the decision.

Australian Ukrainians Protest

The Ukrainian community in Australia is pressuring the government to change its mind, holding protests in Sydney last weekend.

Anton Bogdanovych, who helped organise the rally, told the media “Our assessment of risk is different. We’re at war. [But] the Australian government for some reason wants us all, the taxpayers, to pay close to $2 billion to dismantle them, to bury it in Australian soil, to pollute the environment instead of helping a friend in need.”

Members of the Australian-Ukrainian community carry a Ukrainian flag during a protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Sydney on February 26, 2022. (Photo by Steven SAPHORE / AFP) Photo by STEVEN SAPHORE/AFP via Getty Images

Mr. Conroy said: “The Australian government continues to work closely with Ukraine to consider further options to provide timely, meaningful, and sustainable assistance. We’ve provided $910 million worth of assistance, including $730 million of military assistance.”

2023 was not the first time the MRH-90s had been grounded by Australia. Eleven were taken out of service soon after they were deployed, in 2010, when one suffered an engine failure near Adelaide.

In June 2019, the ABC obtained a sensitive “projects of concern” report, listing the helicopters among the worst-performing military acquisitions. The report said the fleet is limited on certain missions because it cannot shut down the main engines.

The following year, defence officials confirmed to a Senate hearing that the helicopter’s door was too narrow to allow its gun to fire while troops were descending.

Then in 2021, the entire fleet was grounded for weeks, with the ADF describing the move as a “safety precaution” following issues with the IT support system.

In December of that year, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the entire fleet would be replaced—a decade ahead of schedule—with new Black Hawks and Seahawks imported from the United States.

The MRH-90s—ordered by former Prime Minister John Howard and former Defence Minister Brendan Nelson—cost $3.7 billion; their replacements will cost around $2.8 billion.