Asia-Pacific to Buy 1,500 Military Helicopters Over Next Decade
Airbus sees growth potential of its military helicopter business in the Asia-Pacific region and expects 1,500 new helicopters to be delivered in the region over the next decade by all rotorcraft manufacturers. The aerospace giant’s rotorcraft division highlighted that demand for military helicopters is anticipated to be on the upward trend as Asia-Pacific military fleets are due for renewal and modernisation, focusing on medium utility, specialised attack, and heavy combat and naval lift capabilities. “With a comprehensive suite of military platforms, including our star performers H225M and H145M, we are well placed to capture a strong share of the rising demand in the military segment,” said Fabrice Rochereau, Airbus Helicopters Vice-President/Head of Marketing and Sales at a media briefing in Singapore.
Asia-Pacific is a key market for Airbus where it has a quarter of the helicopter fleet share today. There are currently 2,200 Airbus helicopters operating in the region for a wide range of civil, parapublic and military missions.
The region deploys the full range of Airbus’ rotorcraft, including the multi-role H225M and the multi- mission H145M dedicated for strategic and tactical transport, military training, search-and-rescue, as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Airbus sees its versatile light-twin H145M as the perfect battlefield support helicopter due to its excellent performance, flight comfort and mission-capable features. The H145M is already supporting ten defence forces globally, with over 500 aircraft delivered and some 60 helicopters on order.
Designed to perform in a multi-domain environment, the rotorcraft maker said the H145M is well referenced around the world for its crucial capability of delivering troops and goods efficiently while deploying the required power to support military operations.
The helicopter manufacturer also expects an uptick in military demand for special operations, search- and-rescue, and tactical transport. This is where Airbus’ combat-proven multi-role H225M is best suited for a wide range of mission requirements. The H225M is today contracted by ten military forces worldwide, with over 160 delivered and 40 on order. “Four of the ten H225M customers are in the Asia-Pacific region, which underlines the success of this force multiplier which continues to enable military forces to deploy rapidly in all-weather environments.
The four Southeast Asian nations using the platform are Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. This is in addition to the large number of H225 operators in the region utilising the versatile helicopter for various civil and parapublic missions. There are significant opportunities for both H225M and H145M in Asia-Pacific. Airbus is confident that these helicopters will become critical assets complementing the military operators’ existing fleet,” a company statement said. – adj/dl/mgm (Pix: Airbus)
