Singapore Puts $1 Billion Super Puma Helicopter Purchase On Hold

Singapore has delayed a decision on $1 billion helicopter purchase to replace 32 ageing Super Pumas after a civilian Airbus Super Puma crashed in April this year

Airbus Helicopters is the frontrunner for the order. The delay comes as Airbus Helicopters, wrestles with the latest in a series of setbacks to the H225 Super Puma, a workhorse of the offshore oil industry and widely used across the world for search and rescue and heavy military airlift operations, Reuters reported in an exclusive story by Siva Govindasamy Tuesday.

The purchase has now been put on ice until there is clarity over the fallout from the April 29 crash which killed 13 oil workers and crew off the coast of Norway, Reuters stated quoting unnamed sources as saying.

Singapore’s procurement, pitting Airbus Helicopters against Italian firm Leonardo Finmeccanica, marks the first major test of confidence in the military version of the aircraft since April’s crash, which led to the worldwide grounding of the civilian version. 

A fresh tender is not on the cards, said the sources, who did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. They could not say when a decision will be made.