26 November 2019: A global support contract has been signed by Airbus Helicopters and its partner Heli-Union for the Cougar and Caracal helicopters in service in the French Army and Air Force.
The contract has been signed with the DMAe, the defence agency in charge of improving the availability of military aircraft in France, is the first contract that Airbus Helicopters has signed as part of the new approach initiated by the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly.
The main goal of this long term contract is to increase the availability of the Caracal and Cougar fleets by making Airbus Helicopters responsible for the entire scope of the aircraft's support.
Airbus Helicopters has decided to limit the number of aircraft in heavy maintenance by reducing the duration of the maintenance cycles for each helicopter type by up to 20 per cent. Also, the commitments taken on logistics and technical assistance will decrease the downtime linked to these activities.
"Airbus Helicopters has committed to ambitious performance levels for the support of the Cougar and Caracal helicopters in service in the French Army and Air Force" said Bruno Even, Airbus Helicopters CEO. "This contract is the result of months of cooperation with the DMAe, and I am confident it will deliver the level of support that the French armed forces.