• Defence Helicopter

  Brazilian Navy Lynx helicopters set for upgrade

  2nd July 2014

  The Brazilian Navy’s Lynx Mk21A helicopters will be upgraded by AgustaWestland under a $160 million contract announced on 2 July. The contract covers the mid-life …

• Land Warfare

  Is this the beginning of European land consolidation?

  2nd July 2014

  French military vehicles manufacturer Nexter and the German armaments producer KMW have signed an agreement to create a joint holding company. The two industrial giants …

• Defence Helicopter

  Germany introduces the Quick Draw

  2nd July 2014

  Germany’s CH-53GS medium transport helicopters operating in Afghanistan have recently been equipped with General Dynamics Quick Draw 2 GPS interrogators, it has emerged.  According to …

• Defence Helicopter

  Teams await JMR TD decision

  2nd July 2014

  The bids are in and the US Army is now mulling a decision that could have far-reaching consequences for the US rotorcraft industrial base. At …

• Defence Helicopter

  Final CH-147 Chinook delivered to Canada

  1st July 2014

  Boeing has delivered the 15th and final CH-147F Chinook medium-to-heavy-lift helicopter to the Royal Canadian Air Force, bringing to a close the delivery period of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Helicopter losses mount in Ukraine conflict

  1st July 2014

  The bloody internal conflict in Ukraine has seen the downfall of a military force that has failed to modernise its hardware in the previous decade …

• Defence Helicopter

  The Netherlands suspends acceptance of NH90s

  30th June 2014

  The Netherlands has suspended further deliveries of NH90 NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH) aircraft destined for the Dutch armed forces due to corrosion issues.   The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  French Air Force proves UAV ‘Reachback’ concept

  27th June 2014

  A French Air Force Harfang unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been successfully controlled during flight in Sahel-Sahara region by crew at the Military Flight Test …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky wins USAF Combat Rescue Helicopter contract

  27th June 2014

  Sikorsky has been awarded the US Air Force’s $1.28 billion Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) contract. The award will see the company undertake the initial engineering …

• Defence Helicopter

  Rotorsim marks heli-operator training milestone

  26th June 2014

  The CAE and AgustaWestland joint venture, Rotorsim, is set to add an AW169 full-flight simulator to its training centre in Italy as it marks 100,000 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Korea to test Unmanned Little Bird

  25th June 2014

  The Republic of Korea Armed Forces will initiate a six-month flight test programme with Boeing’s Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) by the end of 2014, it …

• Defence Helicopter

  Echo Apaches performing beyond expectations

  25th June 2014

  US Army AH-64E Apache attack helicopters deployed to Afghanistan have been described as more lethal than their ‘D’ model predecessor, according to senior figures in …

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing looks to expand Dutch relationships

  25th June 2014

  Boeing is making moves that could see the Netherlands become a regional hub for military and civilian aircraft support services with the signing of two …

• Defence Helicopter

  NHI looks to standardise NH90 programme

  24th June 2014

  With the NH90 programme hampered by the vast number of different variants being produced since its inception, NHIndustries is looking to develop a single standard …

• Defence Helicopter

  Three MH-60R flight trainers in service with US Navy

  20th June 2014

  Three MH-60R tactical operational flight trainers (TOFT) built by CAE USA are now in service with the US Navy, having been declared ready-for-training. CAE announced …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M - France

  Programme 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 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M [Ireland]

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

• Military helicopters - light/training

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

  Contenders for the competition included the Leonardo single engine TH-119 – a military variant of the AW119Kx – and Bell’s newly upgraded single engine 407GXi. ...

• 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 - 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 - 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

  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 - maritime

  Kondor Naval Helicopters (Poland)

  Programme Background In 2018, the Polish MoD announced its requirement to purchase up to eight naval helicopters to replace in-service SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopters. Polish ...

• 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 - 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. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H135 (UK)

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

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T-India-Air Force

  An official contract announcement is expected during the Aero India 2021 exhibition in Bangalore, although negotiations have dragged on for more than five years and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M (Contracted) [Germany]

  Programme Background Previous Usage The German Armed Forces ordered 15 H145M helicopters, with the initial two delivered in December 2015, for the Kommando Spezialkräfte. These ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Naval Utility Helicopters (India)

  Programme Background The program will witness the formation of a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and another local or foreign manufacturer. In June ...

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 - 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

  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 ...

• Model 301 Fire Attack

  The Model 301 is a belly tank/refill hose system for Airbus Helicopters AS365-series helicopters.

• Model 316 Fire Attack

  The Model 316 is a belly tank/refill hose system for Airbus Helicopters H225 and AS332 L-series helicopters.

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H175M

  The Airbus H175M is the military variant of the H175, a seven-tonne class aircraft powered by twin PT6C 67E engines. The civilian variants produced by Airbus ...

• 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. ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• AC67 Airbus Helicopters H135 interior

  Bucher has developed the AC67 medical interior for the Airbus Helicopters H135 in cooperation with ADAC Luftrettung.The lightweight, modular design features a floor with integrated ...

• 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. ...

• Air: Defensive Systems - Radar Warning Receivers

  EWR-99

  Dassault is not traditionally associated with electronic warfare subsystems, instead being equated with the manufacture of combat aircraft and business jets. Nonetheless, the company did, ...