MARSEILLE, France—France is accelerating its procurement of a joint fleet of helicopters based on Airbus H160 twin-engine medium rotorcraft.
Under the HIL (Joint Light Helicopter) program, France will buy 169 military versions of the H160, formally christened Guepard or Cheetah, with the type replacing  five types in the inventory—the Alouette III, the AS555 Fennec, AS565 Panther and the SA330 and Gazelles currently serving the three armed services.
The program had been expected to begin delivering helicopters in 2028, but French defense minister Florence Parly has pushed to adjust defense funding and bring the introduction of the helicopter forward, allowing France to retire the older models. The program now will be formally launched in 2021, and Airbus will fly prototypes of the H160M in 2023 and first deliveries will take place in 2026, with the aircraft expected to be in service for around 40 years.
Announcing that the procurement would be bought forward during a visit to Airbus Helicopters’ facilities here May 27, Parly said the introduction of the new aircraft “will allow us to significantly improve the availability of our fleet and mastering the maintenance costs over time will be easier.
“By choosing to receive new equipment earlier, with enhanced operational capabilities, we are able remove our old fleets from service before their maintenance leads to disproportionate costs or problems,” Parly added.
Airbus is currently undertaking a de-risking study to support the H160M development program, although the H160 has been shaped around the HIL requirements, which the French defense ministry has been studying for nearly a decade.
The H160Ms will differ from the commercial H160, currently under development and due to be certified by the end of the year, with use of a Thales-developed ICDS avionics suite introducing a modernized cockpit configuration with three large touchscreen displays for the crew. Parts of the fuselage will be strengthened to support the installation of weapons pylons, particularly for the naval version, which will be equipped to carry the MBDA ANL/Sea Venom anti-ship missile.
Under current plans, Airbus will develop a baseline H160M configuration and then develop kits to support the 15 different missions the aircraft are expected to perform. Baseline equipment includes radio equipment and defensive aids systems. Naval versions will carry out surveillance and anti-ship attack while air force H160Ms will perform utility transport as well as low-and-slow intercept missions as part of the French air policing mission. To support this role, Thales is developing distributed radar system similar in concept to the Leonardo Osprey flat-panel AESA radar that equips Norway’s search-and-rescue AW101 helicopters. The Thales radar is being designed to deliver air-to-air and surface search modes, eliminating the need for a bulbous radar under the fuselage or on the nose that could impinge landing gear clearance.
“We start from the civil version, then we add equipment which is common for all the applications—a common basic vehicle—and that will be able to receive different kits to tailor the aircraft,” explained Bernard Fujarski, H160 program manager.
The Guepard will use the Safran Arrano 1A turboshaft that currently powers the commercial H160.
“We have a lot to do to prove all the elements, so we are planning a significant number of campaigns to test all the equipment,” explained Vincent Chenot, the H160M/HIL program manager.
Of the 169 planned for purchase, 80 will go to the French Army Air Corps, 49 to the navy and 40 to the air force.
The company also believes there is a market for up 400 helicopters between 2025 and 2030 as armed forces look at larger platforms to replace types such as the Gazelle and naval versions of the Lynx.
“Earlier commissioning by the French forces in 2026 will be decisive for export,” Parly said.