Australia has decommissioned 45 MRH-90 Taipan helicopters and decided to dispose of them. Now the Ukrainian community is putting pressure on the government because of this decision of the country, because Ukraine has made a request to receive these helicopters in December 2023, local media ABC writes.
The MRH-90 helicopters were withdrawn from service in September last year after four servicemen were killed during a training exercise in Queensland.
MRH-90 Royal Australian Navy.
Commonwealth of Australia
Anton Bohdanovych, a participant of the rally of the Ukrainian community in Sydney, said that "for some reason, the Australian government wants all of us, taxpayers, to pay about $2 billion to dismantle them, bury them in Australian soil, pollute the environment instead of helping a friend in need.".
ABC News / Keana Naughton
Ukraineʼs ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said that "it is hoped that such an opportunity [to transfer the helicopters to Ukraine] is still there...", although Kyiv has not received a response to its request for the transfer.
A spokesperson for the Department of Defense said in a statement to the ABC that the department "will dispose of everything in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way."
- The MRH-90 Taipan is a 16.13 meter long and 5.23 meter high multi-role helicopter. Its maximum speed is 300 kilometers per hour.