In March 2022, on behalf of France and Spain, the Joint Organization for Armament Cooperation [OCCAr] awarded Airbus Helicopters the contract to develop the Tiger Standard 3 attack helicopter. The challenge at that time was to carry out the mid-life renewal of this aircraft in order to keep it at the maximum operational level beyond 2050. This meant adapting it to collaborative combat.
However, the Military Planning Bill [LPM] 2024-30 bypasses this new rule for the Tiger. And rightly so: as General Pierre Schill, Chief of the French Army General Staff [CEMAT], explained, it was decided to postpone it to a later date. The plan is now to upgrade all 67 aircraft in service to an Enhanced Standard 2 by 2030.
“We will also have to take into account the elements that the conflict in Ukraine will provide us with in order to specify the conditions for the use of these helicopters, in particular depending on the development of the capacity of aerial drones, because the helicopters that will succeed the standard Tiger 2 will have intrinsically the ability to guide certain aerial drones or to operate with them”, General Schill also indicated during a parliamentary hearing.
That being said, the terms of the contract awarded to Airbus Helicopters in 2022 have not changed… And the modernization work on the Tiger continues. On June 22, Safran Electronics & Defense announced that it had been selected to supply the SkyNaute hybrid inertial navigation system, APIRS heading and attitude system, and 4-axis Trim actuators for the modernization of French and Spanish Tigres.
“Combining high integrity and precision, the SkyNaute navigation system guarantees high levels of performance and reliability, even in the absence or interference of geolocation satellite [GPS] signals,” the manufacturer stated. As for the APIRS system, based on fiber optic gyroscopes and MEMS accelerometers, it will provide the crew of a Tiger with “essential data for piloting on all three axes: roll, heading and pitch.”
On the same day, Nexter/KDNS announced the modernization of the THL30 turret, which equips the Tiger. Obviously, the press release issued on this occasion does not take into account the LPM 2024-30 project since it states that these works are carried out within the framework of the contract awarded in 2022 by the OCCAr.
As a reminder, the THL30 is based on the 30mm M 781 30mm gun, which can fire at a rate of up to 720 rounds per minute.
“Nexter […] is increasing the performance of its THL30 turret, intended for modernized Tiger helicopters, the new standard developed by Airbus Helicopters,” the manufacturer states. “This work will mainly focus on increasing its lateral clearance so that it can engage targets at more than 90° on each side,” and “the on-board electronics [will be] modernized to optimize weight and volume,” he explains.
These upgraded THL30 turrets will be delivered to Airbus Helicopters “at their facilities in Marignane (France) and Albacete (Spain),” Nexter/KNDS concludes.
Laurent Lagneau
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