HMS Albion has recently made a significant leap in enhancing its airborne operations.

Both QinetiQ and 846 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) have been rigorously testing to increase the capabilities of the Merlin helicopters utilised by the Royal Marines.

A tweet from the HMS Albion’s official account shared, “Hands to flying stations aboard HMS ALBION! @846NAS and @QinetiQ have been pushing it to the limit to increase helicopter capabilities! This will allow more @RoyalMarines and their equipment to be flown closer to the mission and longer endurance for the Merlin!”

This development suggests that the upgrades will allow the Royal Marines to be deployed closer to their mission areas. Furthermore, it indicates that the endurance of the Merlin helicopters has been increased, implying extended flight times.

In another related tweet, Chris K-V (CO Rotary Wing Test & Eval Sqn), provided more specifics on the expansion of the helicopter’s capabilities. He stated, “RWTES have been BUSY! Embarked in @hms_albion with our @QinetiQ colleagues and @846NAS to expand the Merlin operating envelope. We’ve been hunting low pressures, big seas and bad weather to get the data to increase all up mass by up to 1.5 tonnes. That’s a lot of @RoyalMarines!”

Chris’s tweet reveals that efforts to expand the Merlin’s capabilities involved operating in challenging conditions, including low pressures, large seas, and adverse weather. The data collected during these tests has potentially led to an increase in the total load the Merlin can carry, with an impressive increment of up to 1.5 tonnes.

This significant increase in mass will allow for the transportation of more Royal Marines and their equipment.

Also of note is that the trial has marked the end of Chris’s naval career. Fair winds and following seas, Chris.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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40 COMMENTS

  1. Meanwhile…

    “Airbus is pushing the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to progress its New Medium Helicopter (NMH) requirement at a quicker pace, with a senior official telling Janes and other defence media that it stands ready to deliver on its H175M offering.

    Speaking at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford in Gloucestershire, Lenny Brown, managing director of Airbus Helicopters UK, said that with the invitation to negotiate (ITN) expected from the MoD in the coming weeks, the company is keen to press on with the requirement to replace the Airbus SA 330E Puma HC2 and three other UK military rotorcraft types with 36–44 new medium-lift helicopters.

    “We do not anticipate an ITN before September, and we won’t know the final requirements until we get the ITN. But we are ready, so let’s get on with it,” Brown said on 14 July.”

    @Janes: 17 JULY 2023

    • Do we have an airborne laser mine detection system onboard the Merlin?

      The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has conducted deck landing trials of the MCH-101 airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) helicopter on one of its Mogami-class guided-missile frigates.

      The milestone was confirmed by Fleet Air Squadron 51, a unit of the JMSDF’s Fleet Air Wing, on 13 July via an official social media channel. The trials involved the MCH-101 example that bears the serial number 53 and the JMSDF’s third Mogami-class frigate, JS Noshiro.

      The operational tests involved the arrival and departure of the MCH-101 helicopter, according to the statement published by Fleet Air Squadron 51. “By co-operating with other JMSDF units, the Fleet Air Wing is working to improve the service’s defence capabilities and meet the expectations of our people,” the formation said.

      Janes reached out to Fleet Air Wing to enquire on whether the MCH-101 has since been fully qualified to operate from the Mogami-class frigates but they had not responded at the time of publication.”

      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Kawasaki_MCH-101_%283%29.jpg

      • Fairly sure that the RN doesn’t do mine hunting via helos anymore.
        Gulf Mod Lynx in the late 80s was fitted with Daemon Camera system in the rear avionics bay for a time. It used a video camera and filters to allow it to see down into the sea and identify mines ahead of a transiting ship. There was a console in the cabin and an operator to spot suspect objects.

        • Thank you for letting me know.

          This might be a useful addition in that case given the cost compared to the carriers and their crew for example and should be a fairly easy fit.

          “The AN/AES-1 ALMDS will be among the initial airborne OMCM systems fielded. The mission of ALMDS is to detect, classify and localize floating and near-surface moored mines. The ALMDS will be integrated into the MH-60S helicopter to provide a rapid wide-area reconnaissance and assessment of mine threats in littoral zones, confined straits, choke points and amphibious objective areas for Carrier and Expeditionary Strike Groups (CSG/ESG). ALMDS will be embarked as part of the mine countermeasures (MCM) mission package on the new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).”

        • There is a defence command paper this week? The defence secretary gives up his post! Oh dear oh dear. Ben Wallace probably could of kept that job for life regardless of who was in government.
          It must be really bad.

          • It’s not looking good at the moment that’s for sure.
            I pray we are all wrong and defence spending will increase. 🙏

          • Unlike others who have held the role (Fallon and Hammond in particular). BW has real empathy and is good at the job

            He’s clearly had enough, it’s a pity and I wish him well

      • This was announced today on Janes.

        “The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has placed parallel contracts with Lockheed Martin UK and Leonardo Helicopters UK to identify, scope, and mitigate obsolescence issues expected to manifest in the Royal Navy’s (RN’s) Merlin helicopter fleet beyond 2030.

        Under the Merlin Out of Service Date Extension Programme (OSDEP), the two companies will explore potential updates to both the Merlin HM2 and Merlin HC4/4a aircraft in order to sustain and enhance their respective capabilities through to a planned 2040 end-of-life. Current concept phase work is intended to precursor a full Assessment Phase starting in early 2024.”

        • I would ban LEPS they are sucking the life out of the budgets…

          buy new or delete, I agree with BW on this

    • I think we should go for a deal with Sikorsky, where we take some Blackhawks now and change the whole fleet (everything except chinook) to their Defiant X / raider over time starting with Puma replacement.

      given they lost out to bell with the US, they will need a reference customer and if we can do a deal for 320 units over 20 yrs (16 pa) we could get a deal and standardise our fleet.

      would need to be a helluva deal to make this happen, perhaps £20-25m per unit would be a tipping point on this.

      we need to build up our lift capability anyway & these could do refuelling for F35s for Carriers as well.

      worth a discussion at least…

      • It seems Poland are looking to aquire them too.

        “Poland has launched a tender for the procurement of Lockheed Martin S-70i Black Hawk helicopters, the Polish Armaments Agency (AA) said on 21 July.

        The AA made its announcement weeks after Janes first reported Poland’s interest in acquiring domestically built armed Black Hawk helicopters on 7 June.”

        LINK

        • I would only go for them if we could tie into their X tech,

          We can have a manufacturing plant if we get a drumbeat of 24 pa or 2 per month. Any less and it’s not worth doing and we should get the best price we can and concentrate on other tech where we can have an industrial base.

          For the budget we have we should have far more Ind capability. Time to look at the nordics and Israel in particular to get some idea of how they do it

  2. Another sober indication of where we’re headed? When erstwhile peacetime ‘safety limits’ start to be pushed?

    • ??

      They looked at the SHOL and decided to open it up. But before they did, they undertook SHOL trials to prove it is safe to operate in sea and wind conditions.
      Its not a conspiracy …its standard operating limits.

      • No, not seen as any sort of conspiracy, Gunbuster. And I’m definitely in favour. The question mark was over a greater need to operate closer to the real capabilities of the Merlin & vessel platform. Seems sensible under the prevailing security circumstances. Hope I’ve been somewhat clearer over my comment. Rgs

        • No probs. The SHOL was probably derived from operating on Ocean or an RFA and was never updated for Albion, just copied across.

          We did trials on Bulwark for operating Chinook with NVGs. The SHOL for that didn’t exist so it needed to be developed especially as we had the deck altered ( different deck markings) to allow 2 spot Chinook operations.

  3. Good work. Another example of a ‘get the most out of what we have ‘ mindset. I wonder if the medium helicopter order is being squeezed so as to afford more Merlins. Great machine.

    • In short Paul, no chance, we won’t be ordering anymore Merlins….

      I expect an order for no than 25 extremely expensive Helicopters….

      • If so, we pretty much called it last year.

        I’m still hoping, and would accept 30, if the SF task is removed from that number.
        The other Cyprus and Brunei roles are not as vital as Pumas battlefield role and Puma number 24 I believe.

        • I would have to agree mate, 30 would do the job, but for gods sake with such a small number, just buy the bloody things off the shelf!

          • If a U.K. built machine is going to cost a lot more and it’s only for 20-25 with no future orders it’s not worth going U.K. built with foreign kits and bits.
            Now the big issue will the numbers increase or the MOD get any money saved back to there budget? If not then stuff it. Gold plate the things.

  5. Is there anything to choose between the Airbus and AW offerings? Broughton need the work; A380 wings are going out of fashion. But I don’t see the conservatives holding the constituency even if they get the business. What’s the risk of Airbus pulling out of Broughton? Yeovil looks favourite. An order for the AW machine might secure the seat for the Tories against the lib dems.

      • It certainly wont be a surprise mate!

        Get ready for the worlds most expensive UK bespoke Medium support helicopters, oh and 5 years late for good measure!

        As long as the Tories hold the seat, that’s what really matters!!!

      • Frankly the army hasn’t been too good at selecting affordable kit in recent decades. Besides, I’m not sure “the military” uniformly desire anything. Isn’t it likely they’ll be as split as people on the forum seem to be? All you’d hear is the consensus view of the committee in charge, which is better than nothing, but hardly definitive.

        If an order is driven by the need to win an election seat, at least it will mean we’ll get an order within the next year. Better that than the indefinite vacillation we’d get otherwise.

        • There is that train of thought, order now to stop the next lot cancelling it.

          My “desire” comment was based on oft repeated comments to me over many years by mil types that Blackhawk is what they are after, and one of our new posters here, SB1 ( not seen in many weeks ) said the same. And he is an ex AAC pilot, so I do take notice of what he says.

    • Nope. It replaces 24 pumas, 3-5 bell 212s in Brunei or Belize, 3? Griffin 412 in Cyprus and 4-5 dalphins in special forces service.
      Merlin stays as a navy FAA helicopter only.
      The numbers might be a bit wrong and the griffons have went out of service the contract has been in limbo so long.

      • Yes, Bells in Brunei have already been “replaced” by RAF Pumas, as have the Griffins with 84 Sqn in Cyprus.
        658 AAC supports the UK based CRW assigned SAS Sqn with Dauphin.

        The important thing for me with this upcoming order is that the battlefield force, the Pumas, are replaced by enough cabs, and that the Dauphin is removed from the equation.

        The Bells were non front line support types for ferrying people about at the JWS in Brunei or SAR, fire fighting in Cyprus, they could conceivably be replaced by a civilian type?

        • The Cyprus helicopters I presume have other roles?
          Cost of the new ones and running costs will be important. The RAF will be chinook and whatever the new one is.
          Oh forgot about the wildcats but really I would want an honest assessment of if they are a good fit for the roles they have. Perhaps better replacing them with something else and passing them to the navy, marines.

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