DefenceTalkThe French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) has ordered six additional NH90 helicopters in tactical troop transport (TTH) configuration, bringing the total amount of NH90 TTHs on order for the French Army Aviation to 74. “The French armed forces have deployed the NH90 operationally in Mali where its outstanding endurance, versatility and manoeuvrability have been greatly […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-orders-six-additional-nh90s-for-the-french-army-aviation-66315/

DefenceTalkA Letter of Intent (LOI) for the establishment of a final assembly line (FAL) of Airbus Helicopters’ H135 in China was signed today by Yao Yixian, the Sino-German Ecopark Deputy General Manager and Wolfgang Schoder, Airbus Helicopters Deutschland CEO in Hefei, Anhui Province. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and the visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel witnessed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/first-airbus-helicopters-final-assembly-line-to-be-setup-in-china-65718/

DefenceTalkThe H160 mock-up is making its British debut today at Helitech, as the program steadily pursues its flight test campaign. The first prototype flights are progressing according to plan and the aircraft has already reached a maximum speed of 175 kts and an altitude of 10 000 feet. As the validation of technical parameters is […]https://www.defencetalk.com/airbus-helicopters-h160-program-in-full-swing-65564/

DefenceTalkMetro Aviation of Shreveport, La. has contracted to purchase six EC145e twin-engine helicopters from Airbus Helicopters Inc. Metro is the first North American customer for this new lighter weight and lower cost version of the highly successful Airbus Helicopters EC145. Airbus Helicopters Inc. and Metro have launched an extensive North America demonstration tour to show […]https://www.defencetalk.com/metro-aviation-places-order-for-six-ec145e-light-twin-helicopters-65369/

DefenceTalkBANGKOK: Airbus Helicopters has completed delivery of an initial four EC725s to the Royal Thai Air Force, providing highly-capable rotorcraft for this military service’s search and rescue and troop transport duties. The order of four EC725s was signed in 2012, with the deliveries having just been completed. They are expected to begin operations later this […]https://www.defencetalk.com/the-royal-thai-air-force-receives-four-ec725-helicopters-65143/

DefenceTalkA new portfolio of scalable welfare satcoms services for UK military personnel has been introduced by Airbus Defence and Space. The focus of the new Wel2Go portfolio is to provide reliable, value for money and easy to transport, deploy and operate private communication channels in the field. The new mobile connectivity suite is part of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/airbus-ds-unveils-new-mobile-welfare-communication-portfolio-64703/

DefenceTalkFrance: Airbus Defence and Space is about to recommence deliveries of Airbus A400M aircraft following the lifting of all remaining flight restrictions on new production aircraft by Spanish regulator DGAM yesterday. As a result, all A400Ms are now cleared for flight provided they have undergone the checks specified by the manufacturer in the Alert Operator […]https://www.defencetalk.com/airbus-resumes-a400m-deliveries-64608/

DefenceTalkEuropean aircraft maker Airbus believes the United States will be the biggest customer for its A400M military transport plane, despite a fatal crash involving one of them during a test flight last month. “By the next decade at the latest, the US armed forces will be the biggest customer for the aircraft,” Airbus chief executive […]https://www.defencetalk.com/airbus-says-us-to-be-biggest-customer-for-a400m-military-plane-64498/

DefenceTalkSpain on Thursday said test flights of Airbus A400M military planes that have already rolled off the assembly line could resume, after suspending them in May following a crash that killed four people. Airbus executives met with Spain’s National Institute of Aerospace Technology on Thursday to discuss resuming flights after one of the massive transport […]https://www.defencetalk.com/spain-allows-a400m-test-flights-to-resume-after-deadly-crash-64472/

DefenceTalkBerlin: Analysis of the flight recorders of the A400M which crashed in Spain on May 9, killing four, indicated there were no structural faults but assembly quality problems, a senior Airbus executive said in a newspaper interview to appear on Friday. “The black boxes confirm it. There was no structural fault, but we have a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/airbus-admits-assembly-quality-problem-after-a400m-crash-64365/