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<p>BAKER, Calif. (AP) — A helicopter carrying six people crashed near a small town in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, authorities said.</p><p>The helicopter went down Friday evening near Baker, a town of 700 people about 95 miles (153 kilometers) southwest of Las Vegas, KABC-TV reported.</p>

Australia has joined France, Germany and Spain in planning a mid-life upgrade (MLU) for the Tiger ARH (attack and reconnaissance helicopter) made by Airbus Helicopters. The MLU could save the Tiger helicopter in Australia, where the defense department has not been happy with its serviceability and support. It has said that the army’s 22 Tigers could be replaced if their performance does not meet requirements by the time of its Combat Assurance Program in 2019. The MLU is planned to be available from that year, with the modified helicopters designated the Tiger Mk3. Europe’s Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (French...

Navy: Europe firm ‘twisting’ facts for $1bn deal Feb 21, 2012 - Sridhar Kumaraswami A big controversy has hit the acquisition of 16 Multi-Role Helicopters for the Indian Navy, a deal estimated to be worth around $1 billion, with the Indian Navy accusing European vendor NH Industries (NHI) of trying to “mislead” the defence ministry, “twist” the Naval Staff Qualitative Requirements (NSQRs), “falsify” the Request for Proposal (RFP) and cause delays with “unreasonable que-ries/concerns”. Docu-ments accessed by this newspaper show the Navy criticised the European firm after it raised doubts about the helicopter of its American rival Sikorsky. This new...

Helicopters can be deployed to war zone, experts declare Defence Writer Ian McPhedran From:The Advertiser July 22, 201112:00AM THE Federal Government and military chiefs are under pressure to send new attack choppers to Afghanistan. High-level war games proved the army's Tiger attack helicopters were ready to fight. The Tigers are not fully accepted into operational service, but they have performed so well at the huge biennial military exercise with US forces at Shoalwater Bay that one senior officer has pronounced them "ready for war". The key sticking point remains the controversial issue of night-vision equipment - the choppers are more...

India to go for open bidding for Navy deal, rejects US offer NEW DELHI: India has turned down an American offer to supply 16 multirole helicopters (MRH) through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route for its Navy and decided to go for open competitive bidding for the multi-billion dollar deal. The US Navy had offered the MH-60 'Romeo' to meet Navy's requirement for 16 MRH through an inter-governmental agreement but the proposal was rejected, Defence Ministry sources told PTI on Thursday. Under the FMS route, the procurement is done through inter-governmental agreements where the product is offered directly by the...

After a turbulent year, Eurocopter concludes 2010 with four maiden flights of different helicopter types from its range of military and civilian helicopters. In particular, the NH90 programme, which last week saw two first flights, experienced some significant ups and downs in 2010. Meeting harsh criticism in Germany, along with the Tiger combat helicopter, both platforms as well as other military helicopters provided noteworthy accomplishments for other countries. Further, the Tiger HAP continues to support the French Armed Forces’ efforts in Afghanistan. Begun in mid-2009 – the helicopter’s first deployment to a war zone has already achieved far more than...

Eurocopter’s Tiger HAD Support and Attack Helicopter Version for France Performs its Maiden Flight (Source: Eurocopter; issued December 17, 2010) The first pre-serial Tiger HAD (fire support and destruction) for France made its maiden flight from Eurocopter’s Marignane, France facility. It marks an important step towards the Block I initial qualification of the Tiger HAD, which is one of four versions in Eurocopter’s multi-role Tiger combat helicopter family. During the next several months, Eurocopter will conduct joint testing and development flights of this Tiger HAD along with the first Spanish Tiger HAD – which re-started its flight test sequences three...

Exclusive - Germany suspends EADS helicopter purchase (Reuters) - Germany is suspending its 3 billion euro (2.6 billion pounds) purchase of EADS's (EAD.PA) Tiger attack helicopter due to technical problems, potentially delaying delivery to its forces in Afghanistan until end-2011. An internal ministry report obtained by Reuters on Tuesday said the step was being taken because of serious problems with the wiring of the helicopter built by EADS unit Eurocopter. "Until the faults have been effectively and systematically rectified, the defence ministry plans to suspend the purchase of the ... helicopters," the report said. The problems, which also cropped up...

Taiwan's air force said Friday the island had signed a contract worth 110 million US dollars with Eurocopter to acquire three helicopters for rescue missions. The EC225 long-range transport helicopters are scheduled to be delivered to the island at the end of 2011 to join the air force's rescue team, said Yin Shih-hsien, an official at the air force. The announcement comes amid an ongoing row between China and the United States over a US decision to deliver a 6.4-billion-dollar arms package to the island, which Beijing claims as its territory. Eurocopter is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the European Aeronautic...

French army seeks Tiger enhancements for Afghan debut By Craig Hoyle The French army is conducting a series of urgent modifications to its Eurocopter Tiger HAP attack helicopters, in advance of receiving an order to deploy the type operationally for the first time, to Afghanistan. "We are waiting for formal initial operational capability status, and for a decision from the Joint Staff to deploy," says Lt Col Jean-Baptiste Pouret, the army's Tiger programme manager. Enhancements to be made ahead of a combat deployment include the addition of improved air particle separators, rotor blade protection and secure communications equipment. The aircraft...

Army pilots earn stripes in France Peter Wilson January 11, 2008 THE growing role of Europe in Australian military planning has taken another step with the first two Australian pilots completing a French military training program on Eurocopter's new Tiger helicopter. The training of Captain Paul Donaldson and Captain Hamish Felton-Taylor at a French-German base at Le Luc in southern France follows a string of victories for European arms makers in outgunning their US rivals for major Australian contracts. The US remains unchallenged as Australia's main military ally but if the two Australian Army pilots at Le Luc had their...

Pentagon weapons testers say the Army’s new European-designed and built light utility helicopter has a couple of serious shortcomings that must be remedied before it can fulfill many assigned missions. A new report by the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation says the Eurocopter UH-72A Lakota helicopter “is not operationally suitable,” especially in hot weather environments, because its cockpit electronics systems could fail due to inadequate air conditioning. The Army plans to buy 322 of the helicopters, a slightly modified version of the commercial Eurocopter EC-145, which it selected last year for use by stateside Army and National Guard units...

Eurocopter wins big Indian Army deal Eurocopter has won the Indian Army's much-awaited deal for 197 modern light helicopters, estimated at around US$ 550 million. According to a report in the latest issue of India Strategic magazine on defence and foreign affairs, the army chose Eurocopter's AS 550 C3 Fennec over the Bell Helicopter's Bell 407 after trials in hot, humid and high altitude conditions in Rajasthan, Punjab and Kashmir, including in Siachen - the Himalayan battlefield between Indian and Pakistani forces. The new machines will replace the old and aged 1970s generation Chetak and Cheetah helicopters of the Indian...

Turkey shortlists Rooivalk attack chopper Cape Town – It is an awe-inspiring sight, watching a nine-ton attack helicopter perform a loop and barrel rolls – the aeronautical equivalent of Luciano Pavarotti performing a perfect pike on the diving board. But this is exactly what Denel Aviation‘s CSH-2 Rooivalk attack helicopter can do – although that is not part of its operational flying capabilities. The Rooivalk was designed to fly in all weather conditions day or night at extremely low level, sometimes at an altitude of 10m, to avoid being detected. Developed in the 1990s, the Rooivalk (“Red Hawk”) is used...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army on Friday said it chose French-German defense company EADS to build a new fleet of 322 light utility helicopters in a deal expected to be worth up to $3 billion over the longer term. It marks the first major U.S. defense contract won by the North American unit of EADS, and comes as EADS prepares to bid against No. 2 U.S. defense contractor Boeing Co. for an even bigger contract to build hundreds of new aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force. Analysts said the Army deal could also help EADS win more...

Israeli Spike snares Tiger By Arie Egozi in Tel Aviv The Spanish army is to equip its Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters with Rafael’s Spike-ER anti-armour missile, with the French army also evaluating the weapon for its production aircraft. Eurocopter has already partially integrated the Spike weapon system on the Tiger using initial funds from Spain, with this work culminating with four test launches of the 8km (5 mile)-range weapon. A full contract is now expected to be placed by year-end to arm Spain’s future fleet of 24 Tigers. Spain has already decided to purchase the ground-launched LR version of the...

Defence to spend $2b more on choppers Mark Metherell June 19, 2006 AUSTRALIA will buy almost four times as many military helicopters as previously ordered, at an extra cost of $2 billion. The Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson, is expected to announce today that the Australian Defence Force will add 34 of the European MRH-90 multi-role helicopters to the 12 on order. The decision follows protracted problems with helicopters in the Defence Force, highlighted by the Sea King crash in Indonesia last year in which nine Australian military personnel were killed. The crash prompted the disclosure of poor maintenance standards for...

In the presence of the Chinese Prime Minister, Mr. Wen Jiabao, and the French Prime Minister, Mr. Dominique de Villepin, a cooperation agreement covering the development of a new helicopter, the EC175, was signed by the President of AVIC II, Mr. Zhang Hongbiao, and the President of Eurocopter, Mr. Fabrice Brégier. The signing of the Cooperation Contract concluded a year of intense negotiations to detail and develop the general principles laid down in the Agreement signed in October 2004 during President Chirac's official visit to China. The five-year development phase will be kicked off early in 2006. The new civil...

eDefense Online notes that EADS subsidiary American Eurocopter received an order from the US Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection for 10 Light Sign Cutter EC120 helicopters. This acquisition is the first order under a DHS contract that could involve as many as 55 helicopters, with a potential total value of up to $75 million. The EADS release explains that their Light Sign Cutter designation refers to the lightweight class of rotary-wing aircraft earmarked for this mission and is a recognition of the expert trackers known as sign cutters. The EC120s have a number of characteristics useful for...