Puma axe claim dismissed (From Oxford Mail)

Puma axe claim dismissed

1:00pm Saturday 14th January 2012 in Wallingford

A NEWSPAPER report saying helicopters at RAF Benson could be cut in defence savings has been dismissed as speculation.

The Sun said the 34 Pumas faced the axe, but the Ministry of Defence last night insisted the fleet was being evaluated under a routine review.

It also rubbished a suggestion that the £300m scheme to upgrade the aircraft had been stopped.

The work to extend the choppers’ lives by 10 years has been taking place at Eurocopter’s base at Oxford Airport in Kidlington since 2009.

In September 2010, the helicopter manufacturer said it could be forced to cut up to 100 jobs if it lost the defence contract.

But last night a Eurocopter spokesman said 14 of the 28 helicopters had been upgraded and he was confident the scheme would be completed.

He said: “Work certainly has not stopped. We are well aware that in the current budget everything is under scrutiny. The Puma has not been singled out.”