– We were promised as employee organizations to have a say. We have not received that. I have many members at Bardufoss today who would have liked to have commented on this before a decision was made. This does not hold up, he says to news. On Friday morning, the government convened a press conference to announce that the contract for the NH90 helicopters will be terminated and the helicopters will be sent back. The union leader says this came as a bit of a surprise. He has always been skeptical about terminating the contract, because he believes a significant part of the problem lies internally in the Armed Forces. – We have not done our part of the job well enough. It involves both organization and coordination. We have many different players in the picture and some money will be moved internally. So to put it simply: one can not expect to have spare parts in stock if no one has ordered it or does not have the money for it. – Internal problems Bongo believes that these are the same internal problems that are now shown on Evenes. Five new Boeing P-8 aircraft will replace the Orion aircraft’s maritime surveillance. But according to Bongo, only one trip in three months has been flown. – That was not the plan. But they are on the ground because we have not got things in place. We do not have approval. This is the same thing that over the years has helped to create problems for NH90. He says that the lack of money and personnel has been pointed out for more than ten years. But now the NH90 is starting to work. – Now the NH90 is just starting to come into operation. This means that we have finally started to get helicopters out on the vessels. When we now pull this out, when will the new helicopter arrive? asks Bongo. He says he would have understood the decision to terminate the contract if it had come ten years ago. But not when it comes now. Now it only creates new uncertainty. – What will be the costs of this, and what will it cost when new helicopters are acquired? I’m skeptical, and I’m critical that we have not been presented with this. The current government is under pressure, he concludes. Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen, here at Bardufoss this winter. Photo: Malin Straumsnes / Malin Straumsnes, news Can be a new location The NH90 helicopters have their main base at Bardufoss in Indre Troms. Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen can not say whether any new helicopters will be based in the same place. It will now be considered whether there can be a closer collaboration with our allies in the short term, or whether it is possible to rent or lease a helicopter. – The last alternative is whether we should look at a new helicopter project. Then we also have to look at the whole package around such a helicopter, and where it should be placed, says the chief of defense. Kristoffersen says it is obvious that the employees at Bardufoss are people they want to take on. – They have been working on and finding creative solutions for many years, and have delivered far beyond what I could have expected in relation to a helicopter that has been so unreliable, he says. Kristoffersen says they have chosen to terminate the contract because you have never received the helicopter you should have. The helicopters have never recovered on the frigates, and the flight hours are few. The costs therefore do not outweigh the use of them. – The fact that we terminate the phasing-in does not have direct consequences, other than that we terminate a project that has not been realized, says the Chief of Defense.
ttn-69
Scrapping the NH90 helicopters at Bardufoss – The employees have not been heard, says union leader Bongo – news Troms and Finnmark
