• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2012: X3 being prepared for US tour

  12th February 2012

  Eurocopter is set to tour its X3 compound helicopter in the United States and demo the technology to the US Army, it has been revealed. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2012: EC130 is given the makeover treatment

  12th February 2012

  Eurocopter has received more than 100 orders for its latest version of the EC130 single-engined light helicopter. The EC130 T2 first flew in secret in …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2012: Robinson celebrates a bumper 2011

  12th February 2012

  Robinson is looking at increasing production rates of its R66 turbines after a bumper year of orders. Speaking at the company's Heli-Expo press conference on …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2012: Milestone signs for 16 EC225s

  12th February 2012

  In a further indication of the health of the helicopter leasing sector, Milestone Aviation signed a $480 million order for 16 EC225 helicopters at the …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2012: Bell unveils 525 Super Medium Transport

  12th February 2012

  Bell Helicopter has unveiled the new 525 Relentless Super Medium Transport (SMT), which it hopes will come to define a new civil helicopter category. After …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2012: AgustaWestland takes a positive outlook

  12th February 2012

  AgustaWestland says it has a positive outlook on 2012 having recorded more than 200 orders during 2011, up from 197 a year before. Speaking on …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2012: Austrian firm patenting low-noise blade tip

  12th February 2012

  An Austrian helicopter operator is unveiling a blade tip design that its designer claims reduces both noise and improves performance at Heli-Expo 2012 in Dallas. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Vision 1000 FDM approved for AgustaWestland helicopters

  9th February 2012

  MSP Aero has announced that the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) has recently granted a Supplemental Type Certificate for the Appareo Vision 1000 Flight Data Monitoring …

• Military Logistics

  Northrop Grumman delivers NGATS to US Army

  9th February 2012

  Northrop Grumman has announced that together with DRS Technologies, it has delivered the first Next Generation Automatic Test System (NGATS) to the US Army. Northrop …

• Defence Helicopter

  Critical Software selected by AgustaWestland

  9th February 2012

  Critical Software has announced that it has been selected by AgustaWestland to work on a new mission planning system for its current Apache helicopter fleet …

• Military Logistics

  Extra C-17 for the RAF

  8th February 2012

  The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) is to buy another Boeing C-17, strengthening its fleet of transport aircraft to eight. The decision was announced by …

• Defence Helicopter

  Northrop Grumman selected for CIRCM

  7th February 2012

  Northrop Grumman has announced that the US Army has awarded it a contract for the Common Infrared Countermeasure (CIRCM) Technical Demonstration (TD) programme to develop …

• Defence Helicopter

  RAN's RMI 2 programme gathers pace

  7th February 2012

  Raytheon Australia has announced the beginning of acceptance activities of its first Bell 429 helicopters to be utilised under the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) Retention …

• Defence Helicopter

  BAE Systems' Boldstroke selected by US Army

  6th February 2012

  BAE Systems has announced that it has been selected by the US Army as one of two contractors to develop the next generation Common Infrared …

• Defence Helicopter

  Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force selects ALMDS

  3rd February 2012

  Northrop Grumman has announced that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has purchased four of its Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) to help protect its …

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

  SW4 Puszczyk Replacement [Poland]

  Programme Background  In 2002, Poland order 47 SW4 training helicopters from Italian manufacturer Leonardo; as of Spring 2025, the Ministry of Defence is looking to ...

• 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 - 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

  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 - 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 ...

• 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]

  According to the media reports, Airbus couldn't provide a competitive offer for the programme due to the offset requirements.  The deliveries were to be completed ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  AH-X [Japan]

  There is no mention of the AH-X in the 2019-2023 Medium Term Defence Plan, so it is possible that the requirement has quietly been postponed. ...

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 ...