U.K. Cancels SAR-H

The U.K. government has formally pulled the plug on its £6 billion search-and-rescue (SAR) outsourcing effort and is going back to the drawing board to assess how to meet the requirement in the future.

The private finance initiative has been in trouble since late last year when procurement irregularities came to light on the eve of a formal contract signature with the Soteria consortium, that included CHC Helicopters, Thales, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Sikorsky offering the S-92.

U.K. transport minister Philip Hammond announced on Feb. 8 that even though the review of the regularities is not concluded ”the government has sufficient information to enable it to conclude that the irregularities that have been identified are such that it would not be appropriate to proceed with either the preferred bid or with the current procurement process.”

One of the issues under review is that CHC Helicopters had access to commercially sensitive information and that a former member of the government project team had assisted Soteria in preparing its bid.

He adds that a review is now underway to assess how to meet the SAR requirement down the road and how to sustain the capacity in the interim. The AgustaWestland Sea King fleet now used for SAR is in need of upgrade to bridge the gap until a long-term replacement emerges.

The Soteria consortium, in a statement that is it “disappointed to learn that the U.K. government has announced the cancellation of the SAR-H program.” It adds that “if given the opportunity is confident that it is capable of delivering the SAR-H program and stands ready to work with the U.K. government.” The Soteria consortium, however, also is in trouble because RBS has withdrawn.

AgustaWestland and Eurocopter are watching the situation closely since a new competition could open the door for new offerings from their side. Eurocopter previously offered the EC225 as part of the Lockheed Martin, VT Group, British International Helicopters AirKnight team and AgustaWestland was part of the U.K. Air Rescue team with Serco, Bristow Helicopters, and FB Heliservices.

Even after the selection of Soteria, in 2009, the private finance initiative appeared to run into trouble, in part over the government’s politically motivated demand to sustain 12 operating bases, minimizing the ability to gain efficiencies needed for the commercial undertaking.