- Reports emerged in recent hours that the UK was about to announce that Leonardo UK will be awarded the New Medium Helicopter contract
- The programme is intended to deliver up to 23 medium-lift helicopters to the British Army
- Once again, the UK Government appears to be failing to control the narrative as rumours swirl
Emblematic of the chaos surrounding Main Building at the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), rumours that the UK Government was on the verge of awarding a critical military helicopter deal remained unconfirmed going into the evening of 27 February.
Reports from news outlets such as the BBC, Reuters, and others indicated that the UK was set to award the £1bn ($1.35bn) New Medium Helicopter (NMH) contract to Leonardo UK, the sole remaining rotary-wing manufacturing site in the country.
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Leonardo UK’s best and final offer to supply up to 23 AW149 medium lift helicopters to the NMH is due to expire in March this year, with the company officially the last remaining industrial competitor following the earlier withdrawal of Europe’s Airbus and the United States’ Lockheed Martin.
Concerns had been raised that the UK could look to secure an off-the-shelf helicopter from Europe or the US in order to reduce the overall cost of the programme.
However, it appears that a protest outside Downing Street, the home of the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer may have also been heard by Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is seeking to claw back previously promised defence funding.
The confusion does not end there, with the UK MoD informing Army Technology at 17:41 on the evening of 27 February that the NMH programme was “ongoing” and that “no final procurement decisions” have yet been made.
“That outcome will be confirmed in due course,” the spokesperson said.
The purported agreement did not stop powerful union Unite from throwing up the celebratory bunting, having earlier in the week castigated the UK Government for failing to agree a deal for the vital helicopters.
“The Leonardo contract is a tremendous victory for Unite members in Yeovil and across the aerospace sector, said Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite. “Of course, we are pleased that the Rachel Reeves has now listened to Unite on this issue.”
This is an evolving story and will be updated.
