The German Armed Forces Will Retire Its Tiger Combat Helicopters By 2038 |
Berlin - The German Armed Forces plans to retire the Tiger Combat Helicopter by 2038. In exchange, the German Ministry of Defense will acquire the H145M Light Military Helicopter made by Airbus Helicopters.
Germany said that one of the reasons for the abolition of the Tiger fleet was due to the lack of spare parts. The Tiger helicopter is a Eurocopter product whose name is now Airbus Helicopters.
A spokesperson for the German Ministry of Defense confirmed the planned removal of the Tiger helicopter. However, he said, this plan could change if there are other considerations.
The ministry analyzed various scenarios and decided that the MKIII program to modernize the Tiger helicopters posed too many risks in terms of cost and time.
Rather than keeping the Tiger helicopters alive, the German Ministry of Defense plans to purchase the H145M to fulfill future NATO commitments, he said.
The German Ministry of Defense plans to first submit the deal to the Parliamentary Budget Committee for approval by the end of this year.
The Tiger helicopter uses four main propeller blades and is powered by twin engines. It entered service in 2003. Development of the Tiger began during the Cold War and was originally intended as an anti-tank helicopter platform for use against the Soviet ground invasion of Western Europe. During its prolonged period of development, the Soviet Union then collapsed and changed the European security situation.
France and Germany opted to continue with the Tiger, developing it as a multirole attack helicopter. This helicopter began to reach its operational readiness in 2008. Since entering military service, the Tiger helicopter has been used in combat in Afghanistan, Libya and Mali.