The French army’s deployment of three Eurocopter Tiger HAPs to Afghanistan has logged its 1000th flight hour in theatre.
The aircraft were deployed by the French army’s 5th Combat Helicopter Regiment in August 2009 to support the French combat search and rescue EC 725 Caracal helicopters in Afghanistan. Eurocopter reports that the three aircraft have maintained a 90 per cent availability rate, and have “demonstrated excellent performance and operability levels”.
The Australian Army, which is struggling to bring its Tiger ARHs up to an operational tempo, has sent a has a team of observers to observe the French deployment.
