• Defence Helicopter

  Australian Sea Kings make their final flight

  16th December 2011

  The Royal Australian Navy has retired its Sea King helicopters from operational service after 35 years. The last Sea King unit, 817 Squadron made its …

• Defence Helicopter

  Lynx AH Mk.9A programme nears completion

  16th December 2011

  AgustaWestland has held a ceremony to mark the completion of the Lynx Mk9A programme and the scheduled delivery of the 22nd and final Lynx AH …

• Defence Helicopter

  Helicopters to play a key role in Olympic security

  16th December 2011

  Helicopters from the British Army and the Royal Air Force have been slated to play a key role in the protection of the 2012 London …

• Defence Helicopter

  HP reflects on Libyan AMPA deployment

  15th December 2011

  Hewlett Packard (HP) has provided details regarding the UK RAF’s deployment of an enhanced version of its Advanced Mission Planning Aid (AMPA) during Operation Ellamy …

• Defence Helicopter

  Raytheon SDB II moves ahead

  14th December 2011

  Raytheon has completed a series of captive flight tests on the Small Diameter Bomb II, demonstrating that the company's tri-mode seeker could acquire and track …

• Defence Helicopter

  Additional 480B helicopters delivered to Thailand

  13th December 2011

  Enstrom Helicopters has delivered an additional four 480B turbine helicopters to Thailand.  According to the company, the helicopters are part of a programme for 16 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Israeli Air Force reveals thoughts on Osprey

  13th December 2011

  Israeli Air Force (IAF) helicopter pilots who test flew the V-22 Osprey have said the aircraft would need to find a new role within the …

• Military Logistics

  Airbus Military delivers C295 to Mexico

  13th December 2011

  Airbus Military has delivered a new C295 aircraft to the Mexican Air Force to fulfil a troop and paratrooper transport operation requirement. This latest C295 …

• Defence Helicopter

  M-TADS/PNVS wins award

  12th December 2011

  The Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) on the AH-64D Apache attack helicopter has been selected for the 2011 US Secretary of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Australia to buy extra Chinooks

  12th December 2011

  The Australian Department of Defence has announced it is to purchase two more Delta-model Chinooks to bolster its fleet. The announcement was made on 12 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Hungary requests Hueys

  9th December 2011

  The Hungarian government has issued a request to purchase more than 30 Bell UH-1N helicopters from the US. In a statement to the US Congress …

• Defence Helicopter

  French Navy NH90s are proclaimed operational

  8th December 2011

  The French Navy's Caiman Marine NH90 helicopters have officially entered operational service. In an announcement on their website on 8 December, the French Navy said …

• Defence Helicopter

  Lockheed Martin delivers M-DSA to US Army

  8th December 2011

  Lockheed Martin has delivered the first Modernized Day Sensor Assembly (M-DSA) upgrade prototype units to the US Army for use on the Apache attack helicopter. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Brunei orders S-70i Black Hawks

  8th December 2011

  The Brunei Ministry of Defence (MOD) has signed a contract with Sikorsky Aircraft for the acquisition of 12 S-70i Black Hawk helicopters and associated spare …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Thailand orders SeaFox AUV

  8th December 2011

  The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) has opted to upgrade its minehunting capabilities with the Atlas Elektronik SeaFox mine neutralisation drone. According to Atlas, the RTN …

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 ...