UK sets out scope for expanded Fleet Helicopter Support Unit

The FHSU service is delivered by British International Helicopters using two Airbus AS365 N2 Dauphin II helicopters. (Janes/Patrick Allen)

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has set out an indicative requirement for an expanded Fleet Helicopter Support Unit (FHSU) to deliver a crewed rotary-wing service to the Royal Navy (RN).

Besides providing support to operational sea training needs in the South Coast Exercise Areas (SCXAs) and wider UK flight information region, the capability requirement may additionally encompass a land-based maritime airborne search-and-rescue (SAR) service for maritime counter-terrorism (MCT) training, and the transport of personnel and/or cargo to the Queen Elizabeth-class (QEC) aircraft carriers and other ships.

A request for information (RFI) for the future FHSU provision was released on 25 April. Intended to run for approximately five years, with a potential option to extend, the core task is to transport personnel and/or cargo to, from, and between ships within the Fleet Officer Sea Training (FOST) SCXAs. The FHSU service is delivered by British International Helicopters using two Airbus AS365 N2 Dauphin II helicopters.

In addition to the principal tasking, two additional requirements are under consideration for inclusion within the FHSU contract: both remain to be confirmed by a final business case.

The first covers a land-based maritime SAR service to support MCT force generation training. According to the RFI, this would encompass up to six UK-based exercises per year, each of up to one week duration in two calendar blocks (spring and autumn). A second emerging requirement would be to transport personnel and/or freight to the QEC carriers and other UK-based RN shipping based around an initial utilisation of about 100 hours per year.