Despite a recent setback in the UK, Airbus Helicopters is continuing to chase sales for the military M-model variant of the H175 as it seeks a launch customer for the super-medium-twin.
Airbus Helicopters had promised to build the H175M at a new final assembly line in North Wales if it was selected for the UK’s ongoing New Medium Helicopter (NMH) competition.
But while the airframer had pinned its hopes on London becoming the lead customer for the type – in part due to the export potential such a selection would have offered – it opted to walk away from the contest at the 11th hour without submitting a bid, citing issues with the tender requirements.
Nonetheless, Airbus Helicopters remains confident that the platform will find a buyer, potentially opening the way to establish a second final assembly line for the type.
Bruno Even, chief executive of Airbus Helicopters, says the company remains “committed to the development of the H175M”.
However, the location for any future final assembly line “is not decided”, he told media at an event to highlight its military helicopter range in Marseille on 8 October.
“We are ready to propose an industrial partnership with some of our customers in order to produce this capability locally for them but also to be able to export this new programme to address this export opportunity,” he says.
Head of the H175M programme Olivier Pastore says the company is seeing “a lot of interest from many customers” in the helicopter.
“We are continuing to shape the requirements and are identifying the missions we want to address,” he adds.
The H175M’s “primary mission” will be as a troop transport helicopter, but he says the airframer is willing to “build, in an incremental way, additional capabilities”, such as for special forces support or combat search and rescue.
“It is capable of answering to the most demanding missions,” he adds.
Although some derisking activities have been carried out with the helicopter, including a series of hot and high demonstration flights held in Saudi Arabia last year, and the airframer has installed some military-specific equipment such as troop seats, further development will hinge on obtaining firm customer requirements.
That will include building a dedicated M-model. To date, Airbus Helicopters has fielded a single demonstrator (F-WMXB), an aircraft adapted from a flight-test asset for the certification campaign of the baseline civil variant, which Pastore concedes is “not a full M prototype for sure”.
Additionally, given that the civil model is a joint development with China’s Avicopter, Airbus Helicopters still has to build a version of the rotorcraft that is free of Chinese content – a move considered essential for the military variant.
Although the manufacturer in 2021 demonstrated the capacity for such a supply chain switch, building an airframe free of Chinese content, that has not yet translated into a flying prototype “as we haven’t built an H175M yet”, says Pastore.
He says the selection of vendors or suppliers for the H175M is “still open”, but may depend on any industrial offsets required as part of the sales process.
Integration of the company’s HForce modular weapons system – already available on the H125M, H145M and H225M – is also contemplated, says Pastore.
“HForce is a family concept that could be installed in any helicopter. [The H175M] is part of the military family and we could have a version with such an installation.”
