LONDON/PARIS—Airbus Helicopters is set to market its Made in America light attack helicopter—the AH-125/MH-125 Ares derivative of the H125 Ecureuil/Squirrel/AStar single-engine light helicopter—at the Paris Air Show.
The AH-125 light attack and MH-125 multimission aircraft have been developed to meet an “untapped market niche” for a more affordable and configurable fleet of helicopters, Scott Tumpak, vice president of military business for airbus space and defense in the U.S., told journalists June 15 ahead of next week’s show.
Although Airbus has already developed an armed version of the H125—the H125M, featuring the HForce weapons package developed in Europe—Tumpak says there are some customers that have “alignment with U.S.-made weapons and equipment.” To meet that need, Airbus is offering U.S.-assembled H125s produced at the company’s plant in Columbus, Mississippi. Those aircraft are being turned into AH-125s that will be equipped with a weapons system package developed by MAG Aerospace, enabling the use of U.S.-made guns, unguided rocket systems and potentially guided missiles in the future. Many of the modifications for the MH-125 version—including equipment for search and rescue, casualty evacuation and disaster response—have already largely been developed through the commercial H125 program, allowing the MH-125 to be offered first.
Tumpak says that some work is still needed to complete development of the AH-125, but the aircraft could be ready for the market in two years.
By selling from the U.S., Airbus can offer the aircraft through either direct commercial sale or the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales system. And because the aircraft meets U.S. content rules, buyers can also access Foreign Military Funding to acquire the platform.
“What we are proposing here is a very mature, high-performing aircraft, married up to a weapon system from a proven partner to provide an affordable, low-risk but highly capable solution for the worldwide market,” Tumpak said.
Competing platforms such as Bell’s Model 407 and the MD Helicopters MD530 generally have limited ability to be reconfigurable, Tumpak says. “Some of these aircraft, intrinsically, are not as well suited for missions beyond light attack,” he said.
Tumpak would not comment on the price differential between the H125M and the AH-125, but said: “We don’t necessarily see these products as competing. We think we are offering the market a trade-off between capability and affordability based on what the user’s mission requires and their budget.”
Around 270 armed H125Ms have been sold to around 30 countries, Tumpak says, and the U.S. business is confident of finding a “pretty significant market” for the U.S.-made version.
“We feel the multimission aspect of this aircraft is going to probably drive additional market demand,” he said.
Airbus first unveiled the AH-125/MH-125 concept ahead of the Army Aviation Association of America convention in April.
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