NEW MEDIUM HELICOPTER
MOD · MOD_0125_2021-Q4
Department page: Ministry of Defence
| Data as at | Rating | End date | Whole-life cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | Green (NISTA's independent assessment) | 30 September 2032 | £1,329m (price basis not stated) |
| March 2025 | Amber (NISTA's independent assessment) | 30 September 2032 | £1,222.09m (price basis not stated) |
| March 2026 | Amber (the department's own assessment) | 31 May 2037 | £1,404.92m (in 2024/25 prices) |
Each year’s cost is shown with its price basis. Costs are not compared between years: the March 2024 and March 2025 reports state no price basis, and from March 2026 costs are in 2024/25 prices.
The department’s commentary
This is the department’s own commentary. It may use different prices from the table above, so its figures may not match.
March 2026
Rating: Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the NISTA/SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 25/26-Q4 remained at Amber. This is primarily due to the following factors: 1.Although the Full Business Case has been approved by cross-government stakeholders, and the contract now awarded to Leonardo Helicopters UK in March 2026, agreement was achieved months later than planned. 2.Other causes of this assessment are resourcing (including lack of resource loaded schedules) across the core programme and delivery teams, because of the delay to approving the Full Business Case.
Schedule: Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the programme's end-date at 25/26-Q4 remained the same at 30/09/2032.
Cost: Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) increased from £1222.09M to £1574.04M. This is primarily due to the following factors. 1. Delay in approving the Full Business Case, and now reflecting a new 10-year provision, starting in Financial Year 26/27 (The Outline Business Case provision ended in 31/32). 2. There is also a longer initial support provision when compared to the Outline Business Case Whole Life Cost estimates.
March 2025
Rating: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 24/25-Q4 increased from GREEN to AMBER. This is primarily due to the following factors. The Amber rating reflects challenges with workforce shortfalls across the core programme and delivery teams, and uncertainty about the outcome of the competition.
Schedule: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's end-date at 24/25-Q4 remained at 30/09/2032. The schedule will be further developed after completion of the New Medium Helicopter competition.
Cost: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 24/25-Q4 (measured in £m) decreased from 1329 to 1222. This is primarily due to the following factors. Allocating some funding to support procurement of Airbus Jupiter HC Mk 2 (H145) helicopters for Brunei and Cyprus.
Source: NISTA Annual Report 2024-25 (data)
March 2024
Rating: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 23/24-Q4 increased from Amber to Green. This is primarily due to the following factors. Invitation to Negotiate release on 27/02/24, meaning the three candidate suppliers will now compile their bids to be evaluated by the Ministry of Defence to determine the winning bidder.
Schedule: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the programme's end-date at 23/24-Q4 remained scheduled to finish on 2032-09-30.
Cost: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the project's departmental-agree Whole Life Cost at 23/24-Q4 remained at 1329m. This is primarily due to the following factors. Programme expenditure has been largely stable, with a small adjustment to account for an infrastructure study costing less than originally anticipated.
Source: IPA Annual Report 2023-24 (data)
Names, figures, dates, ratings and commentary are as the department reported them. Where a rating, cost or date is withheld, the file’s wording is shown. Every major project →