Eurocopter Tigre

Présenté en vol quotidiennement pendant le dernier salon de Dubaï, le Tigre d’Eurocopter avait également été dépêché au Qatar, quelques jours avant le show, pour permettre aux militaires locaux d’apprécier les qualités de la bête. A l’origine, un petit détour par la Jordanie était aussi prévu, maux ce sont finalement les militaires du pays qui se sont déplacés en France pour être « briefés » sur les capacités de l’engin dont l’hélicoptériste espère écouler une trentaine d’exemplaires au Moyen-Orient au cours des 10 prochaines années.

Après son escale en Russie, fin novembre, le Bâtiment de Projection et de Commandement Mistral est rentré hier après-midi à Toulon. Le passage à sa base du Var est de courte durée puisque le BPC appareille de nouveau aujourd'hui pour des manoeuvres avec l'Aviation Légère de l'Armée de Terre (ALAT). Jusqu'au 11 décembre, le Mistral participe à l'exercice EXA TIGRE, au cours duquel il embarque deux hélicoptères de combat Tigre. Seront également présents à bord deux Puma et deux Gazelle.
Long de 199 mètres, le Mistral dispose d'un pont d'envol doté de six spots d'appontage, relié à un hangar par deux ascenseurs. Il peut accueillir jusqu'à 16 hélicoptères lourds. Comme son sistership, le Tonnerre, ainsi que les Transports de Chalands de Débarquement (TCD) Foudre et Siroco, le bâtiment est conçu pour mettre en oeuvre les appareils de l'ALAT, dont le Tigre, nouvelle machine devant remplacer la Gazelle.
A l'issue de l'exercice, le Mistral rejoindra Toulon, où il va subir, jusqu'à mi-février, un arrêt technique.

Germany Faces Further Tiger Delays

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The German government expects further delays in fielding its Tiger reconnaissance and attack helicopter, owing to production and delivery problems from manufacturer Eurocopter.
Because of quality shortfalls, the German defense ministry says it has not taken delivery of any Tiger helicopters from Eurocopter since December. Of the 67 Tigers that should have been delivered to date, only 11 have been handed over and none of those are in a production configuration, a Germany defense ministry official laments.
He adds that Eurocopter had committed to try to rectify the problems and in the coming weeks hopes to have the latest Tiger ready for acceptance prepared. Significant numbers of new Tigers will not start flowing until the end of the year, however, and versions of the attack helicopter that would be operationally ready would not follow until 2011.
The ministry official says the Tigers will not become operational in Germany before 2012, although the current delivery hiatus could compound delays.
The situation in Germany stands in contrast to that in France, where Tigers have already been operationally deployed to Afghanistan. Germany has opted for a different configuration of the rotorcraft, however.
There has been tension between the German government and industry over helicopter acceptance for some time.

The French army is investigating the circumstances behind the first operational crash involving one of its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] attack helicopters.

Both crew members survived the 4 February mishap, which the army describes as having been a hard landing about 30km (16nm) from the Afghan capital Kabul.

Assigned to support the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, the aircraft had been escorting a pair of French transport helicopters from Tora air base when the incident happened.

One crew member suffered "slight" injuries as a result of the crash, while the other received only bruising. Both were evacuated and the crash site secured.

"The Tiger was operating at night in difficult weather conditions when the hard landing occurred in a mountainous area," the French army says. "An investigation is underway to determine the exact circumstances of the incident." However, the service says that enemy fire has already been ruled out as a possible cause.
France sustains a helicopter battalion of 12 aircraft in Kabul. This comprises three aircraft each of the EC725 Caracal, AS532 Cougar, SA341/342 Gazelle and Tiger.

Germany plans to slash the number of military aircraft it will buy from [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the European aerospace company, as it shrinks its armed forces by a fifth as [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

In a confidential document, seen by the Financial Times, the defence minister Thomas de Maiziere says he wants to cut Germany’s orders for the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet, the A400M transporter, and the Tiger attack and NH-90 transport helicopters.

The move looks set to trigger tense negotiations with EADS and its partners such as Italian-British AgustaWestland and the UK’s [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], which holds a 33 per cent stake in the Eurofighter.

..... to lead to tough discussions with a raft of mostly European governments, who helped develop the aircraft and secured so-called “work-share” for domestic industry in proportion to the size of their final order.

Without the willingness of industry and governments – including France, the UK, Italy and Spain – to amend contracts long signed and sealed, Germany would be on the hook for penalty payments running into billions of euros.

...... Berlin now wants to buy 140 instead of 177 Eurofighters, 40 instead of 53 A400Ms, 80 instead of 122 NH-90s, and only 40 Tigers, half the original order.
..............
EADS and the government declined to comment .........

The UK started [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]three years ago, clinching a deal in spring 2009 which allowed it to sell on part of its Typhoon contingent to Saudi Arabia.

A similar plan is being considered for the aircraft Germany has contracted to buy but now considers surplus, although finding buyers is far from certain, according to industry experts.

India is considering the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. However, it is interested in jets with air-to-ground attack capabilities and not the early air-to-air Eurofighters Germany is expected to want to ditch.

Australia has grounded its Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters after fumes were detected in one of the aircraft.

"The Australian Army has suspended Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter flying operations for training activities due to a concern following the detection of fumes in the cockpit of one of the aircraft," says Australia's department of defence.

The force has 22 Tigers, but the type has yet to enter full operational service. Of these, 19 have a "fully capable configuration" and three are being retrofitted.

Final testing of the type is planned for late 2012.

La direction générale de l’armement (DGA) a prononcé le 10 avril 2013 la qualification de l’hélicoptère de combat Tigre en version appui destruction (HAD) destiné à l’armée de terre.

Elle ouvre la voie à la réception par la DGA du premier appareil de série et à sa livraison à l’armée de terre.