Why Germany ditches Tiger attack helicopter fleet in favor of H145M aircraft
Germany has decided to retire its Tiger attack fleet in favor of acquiring Airbus Helicopters' H145M light helicopters which it can arm with long-range air-to-surface missiles. All the details
Germany sinks its fleet of Tiger helicopter gunships.
Berlin has decided to phase out the Tiger attack helicopters by 2038, which have been in service in its Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) since 2003, and to abandon the Tiger Mark III project for their modernization, started with France and Spain.
At the same time, the German Defense Ministry plans to purchase H145M light military helicopters, also produced by Airbus Helicopters, part of the European aerospace consortium Airbus, in order to be able to fulfill its commitments with NATO in the future, without providing details on numbers and costs, it said. reported in mid-May Reuters .
The stripping of the Tiger by the Bundeswehr was long overdue and came without surprises. Berlin repeatedly complained about the Tiger's low operational readiness due to technical problems. And last year Germany decided not to take part in the MK3 upgrade program for Tiger helicopters together with France and Spain.
On the other hand, “The problems of the Eurocopter Tiger are certainly not new and amplified during the mission in an austere environment like Niger” Ares Difesa recalled in March.
All the details.
THE PROBLEMS OF THE TIGER COMPLAINED BY BERLIN
This year, Germany was faced with a choice: to return to the Tiger Mk III program or to choose a new helicopter.
“Low levels of operation and lengthy maintenance are issues that have remained at the center of discussions among the German high commands during the last few months. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht had stated in 2022 that only nine out of fifty-one helicopters were capable of flying. The situation would be so dramatic that in just under six years the entire fleet would no longer be able to operate” explains Ares Difesa .
THE CHOICE OF AIRBUS H145M AIRCRAFT
As Reuters reports, a spokesman for the German Defense Ministry said the Tiger fleet would be phased out by 2038. The ministry looked at several scenarios and decided that the MkIII program to modernize helicopters posed too many risks in terms of cost and timely execution to take part in it, he added.
As early as March, Ares Difesa reported that "Armaments Secretary Benedikt Zimmer has chosen to go towards the purchase of new helicopters since the Tiger Mk III would be too expensive and development would take too long".
Therefore, rather than modernizing the Tiger, the ministry plans to purchase the H145M light helicopters from Airbus in order to be able to fulfill its commitments with NATO in the future.
“To Heer's no small amazement, the intention would be to purchase 82 H145M light helicopters and to equip 24 of these helicopters with anti-tank capabilities” adds Ares Difesa.
THE CONTROVERSY WITHIN THE BUNDESWEHR
“The operation should cost a good 3 billion euros but the Technical Center of the Bundeswehr (WTD 61) has already expressed its concerns about the choice” Ares Difesa reports again.
According to a letter obtained by Business Insider , WTD-61 stressed that the H145's performance "doesn't by far meet the requirements of the Bundeswehr" and that "doing without protection to increase operability is an unacceptable trade-off," concluding “[H-145] is a bad compromise at best.”
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/perche-la-germania-affossa-la-flotta-di-elicotteri-dattacco-tiger-a-favore-dei-velivoli-h145m/ on Thu, 25 May 2023 05:16:05 +0000.