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The French air force has finally confirmed a long-rumoured interest in acquiring Boeing CH-47F Chinooks for special forces missions and hopes to lease a pair of the tandem-rotor helicopters as a trial before making any purchase.
In addition, the service hopes to shortly outline an upgrade package for its fleet of Airbus Helicopters H225M Caracals and is also working to define possible tri-service requirements for a next-generation rotorcraft post-2040.
Speaking at Defence IQ’s International Military Helicopter 2020 conference in London on 25 February, Colonel Bruno Paupy, deputy chief, plans division of the French air force, said that the Chinooks would be required to plug a “capability gap”.
Paupy says the helicopters would initially be leased, with any acquisition coming in the post-2025 period. As a Chinook purchase was not funded in France’s most recent military procurement plan, the lease model would enable the air force to skirt that potential restriction.
That timeline would also lead Paris towards the acquisition of the upgraded Block II version of the Chinook, which at present is only confirmed for the long-range MH-47G variant – a model that would also suit the air force’s intended mission.
“We want the helicopter capable of performing missions in enemy territory – so you may guess which version we want,” says Paupy.
France has already had some experience of Chinook operations, with a detachment of three Royal Air Force examples assisting army operations in Mali.
Meanwhile, in order keep its roughly 10 Caracals in service until 2040, the service is in the early stages of defining a Standard 2 version of the 11t-class helicopter, which would be fielded from around 2028-2030.
“We will have to improve its systems much more than upgrading [to tackle] obsolescence,” he says, identifying avionics, weapons, self-protection systems and the addition of a Link 16 datalink as key areas to address.
Speaking at Defence IQ’s International Military Helicopter 2020 conference in London on 25 February, Colonel Bruno Paupy, deputy chief, plans division of the French air force, said that the Chinooks would be required to plug a “capability gap”.
Paupy says the helicopters would initially be leased, with any acquisition coming in the post-2025 period. As a Chinook purchase was not funded in France’s most recent military procurement plan, the lease model would enable the air force to skirt that potential restriction.
That timeline would also lead Paris towards the acquisition of the upgraded Block II version of the Chinook, which at present is only confirmed for the long-range MH-47G variant – a model that would also suit the air force’s intended mission.
“We want the helicopter capable of performing missions in enemy territory – so you may guess which version we want,” says Paupy.
France has already had some experience of Chinook operations, with a detachment of three Royal Air Force examples assisting army operations in Mali.
https://www.flightglobal.com/helico...nterest-in-chinook-acquisition/136915.article
In addition, the service hopes to shortly outline an upgrade package for its fleet of Airbus Helicopters H225M Caracals and is also working to define possible tri-service requirements for a next-generation rotorcraft post-2040.
Speaking at Defence IQ’s International Military Helicopter 2020 conference in London on 25 February, Colonel Bruno Paupy, deputy chief, plans division of the French air force, said that the Chinooks would be required to plug a “capability gap”.
Paupy says the helicopters would initially be leased, with any acquisition coming in the post-2025 period. As a Chinook purchase was not funded in France’s most recent military procurement plan, the lease model would enable the air force to skirt that potential restriction.
That timeline would also lead Paris towards the acquisition of the upgraded Block II version of the Chinook, which at present is only confirmed for the long-range MH-47G variant – a model that would also suit the air force’s intended mission.
“We want the helicopter capable of performing missions in enemy territory – so you may guess which version we want,” says Paupy.
France has already had some experience of Chinook operations, with a detachment of three Royal Air Force examples assisting army operations in Mali.
Meanwhile, in order keep its roughly 10 Caracals in service until 2040, the service is in the early stages of defining a Standard 2 version of the 11t-class helicopter, which would be fielded from around 2028-2030.
“We will have to improve its systems much more than upgrading [to tackle] obsolescence,” he says, identifying avionics, weapons, self-protection systems and the addition of a Link 16 datalink as key areas to address.
Speaking at Defence IQ’s International Military Helicopter 2020 conference in London on 25 February, Colonel Bruno Paupy, deputy chief, plans division of the French air force, said that the Chinooks would be required to plug a “capability gap”.
Paupy says the helicopters would initially be leased, with any acquisition coming in the post-2025 period. As a Chinook purchase was not funded in France’s most recent military procurement plan, the lease model would enable the air force to skirt that potential restriction.
That timeline would also lead Paris towards the acquisition of the upgraded Block II version of the Chinook, which at present is only confirmed for the long-range MH-47G variant – a model that would also suit the air force’s intended mission.
“We want the helicopter capable of performing missions in enemy territory – so you may guess which version we want,” says Paupy.
France has already had some experience of Chinook operations, with a detachment of three Royal Air Force examples assisting army operations in Mali.
https://www.flightglobal.com/helico...nterest-in-chinook-acquisition/136915.article
