Army veterans and engineers who once worked on Australia's now grounded fleet of Taipan helicopters are volunteering to rebuild the aircraft so they can be sent to Ukraine rather than be buried in an expensive disposal process.
In September the Albanese government announced the early and immediate retirement of the troubled European-designed fleet after one of the MRH-90s crashed off the Queensland coast in July killing four personnel.
Several weeks later Ukraine formally approached Australia to acquire some of the 45 abandoned airframes for its war effort against Russia, but the federal government has rejected the idea saying it's "not feasible to return them to an operational state".
Since last year's grounding of the Taipans, images have emerged of the advanced multi-role helicopters in various states of disassembly, but the ABC has confirmed none of the airframes have yet been buried.
"Disassembly of the MRH-90 fleet is well advanced and no aircraft are in flying condition," a Defence Department spokesperson told the ABC.
"The disposal method for aircraft parts, including sections of the airframe, that are not required by existing (MRH-90) operators is subject to an ongoing procurement process.
"These parts, which include a complex range of materials, will be disposed of in an environmentally conscious manner — this process has not yet been finalised," the spokesperson added.
Now a group of former soldiers and technicians with expertise operating the MRH-90 have offered their services on a volunteer basis to reassemble any remaining aircraft that still have the parts needed to return to the air.
"Former ADF personnel would love to, most likely enjoy, spending time working on aircraft that would benefit another country against Russia," says former Australian soldier Chris Moore.
"They could get out there and spin a few spanners, push them along or even assist other contractors to help preserve these aircraft to be used other than being buried in the ground."
Under an ambitious proposal sent to Defence Minister Richard Marles, the disposal process would be immediately halted so volunteers could spend roughly a month reconditioning the Taipans before being airlifted by RAAF C-17s to the Middle East.
"With a combined effort from the Australian community we could collectively save these valuable airframes for a country in desperate need of military hardware to strengthen and reinforce their capability," Mr Moore told the ABC.
Sources familiar with the disposal process believe "a handful" of MRH-90s could still be salvageable to an airworthy state but acknowledge many of the Airbus airframes have now been dismantled to a state beyond repair.
"Some of the helicopters recently pictured in Townsville are still in pretty good shape — landing gear, main gear box and head still installed – and there aren't enough Airbus technicians left up there to strip them further," one industry figure told the ABC.
Former Airbus maintenance engineer Stuart Mooney says he would happily "offer my services for free to reassemble MRH-90s for Ukraine if the government changes the decision to scrap them".
"The aircraft is safe like all the Australian Defence Force aircraft, to say otherwise does an injustice to the people who maintain our air assets," he told the ABC.
Labor moves to accelerate delivery of American Black Hawks
Defence Minister Richard Marles has announced nine more American-made Black Hawks will be delivered this year — three more than had been planned — as the Army spends billions of dollars to replace its retired Taipan helicopters.
Three Black Hawks are already here, and all 40 of the new fleet are expected to arrive by the end of the decade.
Australia will also lease five Airbus Juno helicopters to bolster Army's training and light transport requirements for the next five years.