The Military Programming Bill [LPM] The period 2024-2030 hardly allows any concrete statements about the future of the army’s light aviation [ALAT]. However, more was learned about the intentions of the Federal Ministry of Defense through parliamentary hearings and debates.
This confirmed the abandonment of the Mk3 standard planned for the 67 Tiger reconnaissance and attack helicopters and the first twenty light articulated helicopters [HIL] Guépard must have been delivered to ALAT before 2030. However, nothing was said about the Gazelles, which entered service in the early 1970s.
As a reminder, according to the latest edition of Key Defense Figures, published in 2021, as of July 1 of this year, ALAT still had 87 helicopters of this type. Since then, a number of these devices have been transferred to African partners, most notably Niger.
Nevertheless, ALAT’s Gazelle helicopters should still have a bright future ahead of them … In fact, on June 22, the Ministry of Armed Forces announced that the Department of Aviation Maintenance [DMAé] Airbus Helicopters had just informed about the vertical contract “VEGA”. [VErticalisation GAzelle]which must make it possible to ensure their maintenance in working order [MCO] until they are taken out of service.
And that is obviously planned for 2039… because this VEGA contract, which bundles twelve different contracts in support of the Gazelles, was signed for a period of 16 years.
“The VEGA market will ensure the MCO of the Gazelle helicopters and maintain the activity of this fleet until it is decommissioned. In this market, availability is a priority to meet the needs of the army. It will commit the industry to one level of service while improving cost control through increased flat-rate support services,” the Bundeswehr Ministry’s press release said.
And to add, without specifying its value, that this market will “facilitate the transition of support to the future Army Cheetahs that will replace the Gazelles” by incorporating “flexible and modeled activity management mechanisms into those designed for the HIL market are intended”.
In addition to the MCO, the VEGA contract also contains “various measures to deal with a major commitment”. [complément de stocks, traitements des obsolescences connues, capacité à accroitre l’activité aérienne, optimisation de la stratégie du soutien].
In an interview with Air Fan magazine in 2019, when the HIL program was about to be accelerated, General Michel Grintchenko, then commander of ALAT, stated that the Gazelle was “irreplaceable” since the Cheetah “won’t be able to do it “. “doing the same thing” as they do, which “will mean the development of new surgical methods.” In addition, this old-style helicopter has always had very good availability rates…
In order to last until 2038/39, the Gazelle needs some improvements. Four years ago, General Grintchenko had requested that they be equipped with a “new self-protection system with automatic anti-deception” to engage them in “high-intensity” combat and “contact tactical posts to pursue them.” “Development of the transmission and data exchange means of the entire army”.