• Training

  UK opens new Chinook simulator facility

  26th November 2018

  The UK Ministry of Defence opened its new Chinook Mk 6 synthetic training facility at Royal Air Force (RAF) Odiham in Hampshire on 21 November. …

• Special Operations

  Global SAR units take to the sky

  30th November 2018

  Search and Rescue (SAR) units from around the world gathered in Israel to share concepts of operation, tactics, techniques and procedures with senior service officials …

• Military Logistics

  RFA Tidesurge trials Chinooks

  19th November 2018

  The Royal Navy’s third of four Tide-class tankers, Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Tidesurge, is conducting trials with UK Chinook helicopters off the coast of Portsmouth. …

• Defence Helicopter

  First flight for the militarised Mi-38T

  16th November 2018

  Russian Helicopters has announced the first flight of the Mi-38T militarised derivative, a long-awaited event in the process of fielding the 15.6t helicopter in production …

• Digital Battlespace

  Airbus confident AI will dominate the future of air power

  7th November 2018

  Artificial intelligence (AI) and greater interoperability of airborne and ground based systems will soon dictate the way in which future air combat programmes unfold. That’s …

• Digital Battlespace

  A310 MRTT tests 'first step' toward combat cloud development

  8th November 2018

  A communications node test programme involving an Airbus A310 multirole tanker transport [MRTT] aircraft is representative of the company's 'first step' to developing a secure …

• Military Logistics

  Indo Defence 2018: Lockheed's herculean effort for Indonesian Air Force

  8th November 2018

  Lockheed Martin is pushing its C-130J Super Hercules to replace the legacy C-130B/H aircraft of the Indonesian Air Force. Currently, Indonesia operates 20 C-130s and five …

• Defence Helicopter

  Bahrain announces AH-1Z buy

  15th November 2018

  A $912 million contract for 12 AH-1Z Cobra Viper attack helicopters was announced at the Bahrain International Air Show on 15 November. Speaking during a …

• Training

  Hyundai launches South Korean training ship

  28th November 2018

  Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) launched an auxiliary training ship for the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) at its Ulsan shipyard on 16 November. The $23 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Indo Defence 2018: Delivering the goods (Insight)

  31st October 2018

  Six years after placing an order for eight Boeing AH-64E Apaches in September 2012, the Indonesian Army received its final aircraft this year. The first …

• Defence Helicopter

  RTAF receives two new H225M helicopters

  29th October 2018

  Airbus Helicopters has delivered two new H225M multirole utility helicopters to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF), the company announced on 24 October. The helicopters …

• Defence Helicopter

  Black Hawk business unlikely to be undone by Saudi tension

  21st November 2018

  The existing FMS Black Hawk helicopter contracts agreed between Washington and Saudi Arabia will continue to run to schedule, despite the US State Department consulting …

• Defence Helicopter

  AW169Ms for Italy's Guardia di Finanza

  16th November 2018

  Leonardo has signed a contract worth €280 million ($315.6 million) with Italy’s Guardia di Finanza for 22 new AW169M helicopters, the company announced on 12 …

• Training

  Airbus presents H135 for US Navy

  26th October 2018

  Airbus Helicopters is presenting its H135 helicopter as the US Navy’s future training helicopter at the Naval Helicopter Association’s Fleet Fly-in at Naval Air Station …

• Digital Battlespace

  AOC 2018: Lockheed's eyes set on digi over analogue contract

  27th November 2018

  Lockheed Martin this month successfully completed a system requirement review of the digital AN/ALQ-217 ESM system. The company is targeting an EMD contract in 2022 which …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72 Follow-On [USA]

  Programme Background In March 2019, Airbus stated that it expected orders from the US Army for between 12 and 15 UH-72A helicopters. In March 2020, ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M [France]

  Background In April 2021, the French government signed a deal for the purchase of eight H225M Airbus helicopters to replace its ageing fleet of SA330 Puma ...

• Military helicopters - attack, Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M / H145M Add-On [Romania]

  Methodology As part of a potential initial order for 12 H225M helicopters, Romania has included the option to acquire 30 additional helicopters from Airbus. Shephard estimates this ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145 Helicopter [Honduras]

  Programme Background  The Honduran Government has purchased a total of four H145 Helicopters manufactured by Airbus to develop the armed forces preparedness against natural disasters ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H135 [UK]

  Programme Background Airbus Helicopters UK announced on 2 February 2022 that it has won an order to provide five additional H135 twin-engine helicopters for the ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Maritime Operations Helicopters

  The three maritime operations helicopters will be used for logistics and personnel transport, alongside transportation of PASKAL naval special forces in operations in the area. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M [Ireland]

  Background On 30 December 2024 Ireland announced a contract with Airbus for four new H145M helicopters to replace the Air Corps existing fleet of light ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Future Aircrew Training Program [Canada]

  Background The FAcT requires to graduate 120 pilots, 40 combat systems officers and 36 airborne electronic sensor operators per year with 15% fluctuation. Training services are ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  NH-90 [Spain]

  Programme Background Along with a range of other air programmes, the Spanish Government announced the nation has set aside 1 billion euros (USD$1.162 billion) to ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Bell 412EPI-Indonesia

  Programme Background PTDI is assembling Bell helicopters in its factory in Bandung.  The first Bell 412EPI was delivered to Indonesian Army on 29 December 2020 ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  TH-73 Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) (TH-57 Replacement)

  Programme Background Contenders for the competition included the Leonardo single engine TH-119 – a military variant of the AW119Kx – and Bell’s newly upgraded single ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101 [Poland]

  Bids and suppliers Airbus Helicopters Though not involved in the final bid stage, Airbus Helicopters had originally put the H225M forward to meet the Polish ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AW169M [North Macedonia]

  Background Bids and suppliers Prior to Leonardo's award of the North Macedonian contract, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, and Bell Helicopters had all put bids in for ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AW149 [North Macedonia]

  Background Bids and suppliers Prior to Leonardo's award of the North Macedonian contract, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, and Bell Helicopters had all put bids in for ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Spain HT-29 Caiman (NH90 TTH) - Army First Batch

  HT-29 Caiman GSPAs (NH90 TTH) will be assembled at Airbus Helicopters’ facility in Albacete and will replace AS332 Super Puma fleet in service. Even though ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - light/training

  H145

  The light, twin-engine EC145 began as an initiative to increase the cabin size of the BK 117 C1 aircraft, involving Kawasaki of Japan and Airbus ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M

  The medium-weight, 11t-class H225M (formerly known as the EC725) is the latest military Super Puma/Cougar family member.  Technical features include a modular design of mechanical ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M

  The H145M (formerly known as the EC645 T2) is the military version of the H145 medium-sized (3.7t) helicopter (covered in a separate entry). It is ...

• Military helicopters - light/training, Military helicopters - multirole

  H135M

  The H135M (formerly known as the EC635 and also designated as H135) is a light utility variant of the EC135 twin-engine, multipurpose 3t helicopter. In ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H215M

  The H215M (formerly the AS532 ALe) is the most recent addition to the Cougar family.  It is a medium-weight (9t-class), twin-engine helicopter, combining the AS532's ...

• Air: mission management systems

  Helionix

  The Helionix digital avionics suite was developed from the need for a more powerful avionics system with greater functions and computing capacity, alongside a user-friendly interface. ...

• Helicopter engines

  Arriel 2+/2D

  Unveiled in 2011, the Arriel 2+ is an upgrade of the Arriel 2 and is intended for single- and twin-engine helicopters. It incorporates a new ...

• Helicopter engines

  LTS101

  The LTS101 was first certified in 1975. Since then, over 2,100 engines have been delivered to customers worldwide, logging over 11 million service hours. The ...

• EO/IR systems

  Viviane

  Viviane is an out-of-production gyro-stabilised night and adverse weather observation system with missile sight.  Manufactured by Safran, it was fitted to French Army Gazelles. It contained a ...

• Air: mission management systems

  APM 2000

  The current generation of autopilots is the APM 2000 family, fitted on major worldwide platforms. The APM 2000 is based on an integrated digital computer. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H175M

  The Airbus H175M is the military variant of the H175 and works to fill a gap in the H175 helicopter family, as well as offer ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  Light Armed Helicopter

  The South Korean government selected Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in July 2014 to develop the Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) and the related Light Civil Helicopter ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AS365 N3+ Dauphin

  The AS365 N3+, manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), was developed from the Dauphin series of medium, twin-turboshaft rotorcraft. The AS365 N3+ was launched at the 2009 ...

• Military UAS - small

  Flexrotor

  Flexrotor, or U030 Flexrotor, is a VTOL small UAS manufactured by Aerovel. It can integrate different types of payloads, including electro-optical systems and advanced sensors, to suit ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  NH90 TTH

  Developed as a multinational programme between France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, the European NH90 was designed to meet NATO requirements for multirole capability from ...