The French Navy’s development of its new Guépard H160M helicopter was further boosted when an armed prototype flew out to one of its new resupply vessels.
The new helicopter built by Airbus has been selected as the rotary-wing platform for all three branches of the French Armed Forces.
Almost 170 airframes have been ordered at a cost of about €10 billion, including 49 navalised versions. Initial plans were for the first aircraft, including eight for the Navy, to be delivered in 2028. The first prototype made its maiden flight in July last year.
As per a recent French Navy press statement, the first prototype aircraft, with weapons on board, flew out to the replenishment oiler Jacques Stosskopf, marking the first time a Guepard had flown out to a French naval vessel.
The statement noted: “The H160M flew in an armed configuration near the BRF without landing. The objective was to subject the helicopter’s sensors to the magnetic disturbances generated by a ship the size of the BRF.”
It added: “Flight testing will gradually intensify with the arrival of two more prototypes, spanning from 2025 to 2029, in order to evaluate the common platform for the three branches of the armed forces, and then the specific features of each.”
The new BRF (Bâtiment Ravitailleur de Forces) Jacques Stosskopf has just set sail from Toulon to begin its long-term deployment, one of the final elements of the French Navy’s standard commissioning process.
Designed to combine reconnaissance and support capabilities, the logistics vessel will sail through the Arctic, then to the Caribbean and on to the Pacific to test its performance in diverse maritime environments.
The 194-metre vessels, which displace 31,000 tonnes when fully loaded, can carry more than 13 million litres of fuel and 1,500 tons of cargo. The new logistics support ships (LSS) are a Franco-Italian programme managed by joint arms organisation OCCAR.
- You can read more details of the encounter on the French Navy website, more about the Guepard on the Airbus website, and more about the LSS programme on the OCCAR website