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The Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury, a Royal Air Force station near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, trains aircrew from all three of the Armed Forces.
Contents
Squadrons
The DHFS has three flying squadrons:
Training
Training is undertaken on the Squirrel HT1 and for the Royal Air Force students the Griffin HT1 (a twin engine modern version of the famous "Huey" helicopter). Training is typically 6 months for the Army and Navy, as students then move to their advanced single-service training, and 18 months for the RAF.
In addition, Search and Rescue training for all RAF aircrew takes place at RAF Valley on the Search and Rescue Training Unit (SARTU)
All aircrew instruction is carried out by Central Flying School (Helicopters) (CFS(H)) Instructors. These Instructors are a mix of military personnel and 40% Cobham CFS(H) accredited contractor personnel.
Helicopters and Synthetic Training Equipment
All the Defence Helicopter Flying School Helicopters and Synthetic Training Equipment are owned by Cobham Aviation Services - Helicopter Services (formerly FB Heliservices), who provide 40% of the instructional staff, all the ground school and simulator staff, carry out all maintenance and provide support services.
Outsourcing
In October 1996 a contract was placed with FBS, a company formed between Flight Refuelling Aviation, Bristows Helicopters Ltd and SERCo. This 15-year contract not only covered the engineering and supply aspects already in place, but also included the provision of the 35 Squirrel and Griffin helicopters for the Defence Helicopter Flying School at Shawbury. In practice, FBS now sub-contracts the support of the DHFS and RAF Shawbury to FB Heli Services (formerly FR Aviation Services) thus maintaining the partnership between the company and RAF Shawbury forged over the 5 years previous to that contract. Also included in the contract was the provision of 40% of the helicopter instructors, Operations Support staff and Flight Systems Operators in the Central Air Traffic Control School.
In 2012, Cobham was awarded a £193m four-year contract to provide helicopter flying training at RAF Shawbury, RAF Valley and AAC Middle Wallop, together with support services at RAF Shawbury and AAC Middle Wallop. The contract extended the previously existing Defence Helicopter Flying School and support services contract, which had been undertaken by FBS Ltd and FB Heliservices Ltd for the previous 15 years. At RAF Shawbury, Cobham is currently responsible for the majority of the base and operational services, which support ongoing operational activities.
In September 2014, it was announced that a new contractor was being sought to run the UK's helicopter training organisation to replace the existing operation at RAF Shawbury. The new Rotary Wing Training Programme (part of the UK Military Flying Training System) is to replace the current Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS) outsourcing contract, which has been in place since 1997. The MoD anticipated selecting the winning bid in 2016, with the new service to become operational in 2018.
This contract, which will take the training programme into 2033, was awarded in May 2016. As part of this, a £9.5M contract was awarded to Briggs and Forrester Engineering Services Ltd to provide mechanical, electrical and public health systems on the project at both Shawbury and Middle Wallop.
Incidents and accidents
On 9 August 2016, a Bell Griffin HT-1 caught fire after making an emergency landing on top of Yr Aran, Wales following a technical problem. All four crew exited safely.