Europe's Tiger combat helicopter programme received a significant boost earlier this year, with the formal qualification of the type's advanced HAD configuration by France's DGA defence procurement agency. A first helicopter in the new production standard was handed over at Eurocopter's Marignane final assembly site, near Marseille, on 19 April, and arrived at the army's Le Cannet des Maures air base on 6 June to support evaluation phase activities.

To assume the anti-tank role and other strike duties currently performed using armed Aérospatiale Gazelles, the new-version Tiger will introduce a raft of additional capabilities from the HAP-configuration support and protection aircraft already in French service.

A key addition to the Tiger's arsenal of a Nexter Systems THL 30M781 30mm cannon, TDA 68mm (2.7in) unguided rockets and MBDA Mistral air-to-air missiles will be the ability to use Lockheed Martin's laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile. The weapon's full capability will be available only from the HAD's Block II version from late 2014, from which time crews will be able to use its lock-on after launch mode.

"At the moment, the Hellfire is limited to 7km [3.8nm] in lock-on before launch, but the [targeting] system can see the laser spot from 11km," says Maj Xavier Brunette, Tiger armament officer at the French Army Air Corps' test centre. "We would like to use more of that range, ballistically," he says, without extending the missile's actual strike range.

More powerful MTR390E engines, Sagem's improved Strix mast-mounted sight, enhanced ballistic protection, a new electronic warfare system and an increased maximum take-off weight of 6.6t are among the other changes being embodied with Paris's eventual 40 production examples. Human-machine interface improvements are also pivotal to the development, and promise to reduce crew workload and boost situational awareness.

Further enhancements are likely to follow, with all French Tigers to potentially receive a semi-active laser-guided version of the TDA rocket by 2018, via an ongoing development effort named RPM.

Service introduction is due to occur with the 1st combat helicopter regiment in Phalsbourg, while Spain's army is also to take delivery of its first of 24 HAD-E-standard Tigers before the end of this year, with Rafael-supplied Spike air-to-surface missiles.

Getting the new model into the hands of the military has been a long process, with the army having started exploring the standard in 2003. "The programme has been going for 10 years, and the requirement has changed," says Brunette. However, he notes: "It is not only a HAP on steroids with the air-to-ground missile capability; it is something more. We took benefit of the lessons learned from the operational involvement, and have had a very close co-operation and teamwork with industry."

A global fleet of 97 Tigers flown by Australia, France, Germany and Spain had accumulated a combined 40,000 flying hours by May 2013, including more than 5,000h in combat in Afghanistan, Libya and Mali.

"The Tiger is a terrific war machine: you feel invincible in it," says Capt Brice Erbland, a French army gunner with extensive combat experience from operating the HAP version in the first two countries. "Imagine what we can do with the HAD."

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Source: Flight International

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