French Navy H160Bs achieve 3,000 hour milestone
November 6, 2024
The Airbus Helicopters H160Bs of Flottille 32F at Base d’Aéronautique Navale (BAN) Lanvéoc-Poulmic (in Britanny) have achieved their 3,000 flying hour milestone. The Squadron was reactivated on 29 June 2023, and operates in the maritime rescue alert (Secmar) role, maintaining SAR alert 24/7, from the naval air bases at Lanvéoc-Poulmic and Hyères, and from Cherbourg airport. This has allowed the Caïman Marine, Dauphin and Panther helicopters to be redeployed to fulfil their primary mission of air-maritime combat on board French Navy warships.
The H160B is an interim type for the Marine Nationale (French Navy), and was subject to a “light militarization” and configured for air sea rescue duties, pending the delivery of the definitive H160M Guépard (Cheetah) helicopter from 2029 onwards. The aircraft were manufactured by Airbus Helicopters and are equipped with a winch, a Safran Electronics & Defence Euroflir 410 optronic system and a modular cabin to allow an optimized layout to be fitted for different missions. They are also certified for flying with night vision goggles.
These helicopters are supported by Babcock France as part of a partnership with Airbus Helicopters and Safran Helicopter Engines. This partnership is intended to ensure a high level of availability, necessary to guarantee the continuity of the SAR commitment on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, and in the English Channel.
The DGA (the French Armament Agency) delivered the sixth and final H160B helicopter of the interim fleet to the Marine Nationale on 12 February 2024. These six H160B helicopters were ordered from Airbus Helicopters, Babcock France (who performed additional mission adaptation) and Safran Helicopter Engines in 2020 and 2021.
Feedback from operating the H160Bs will contribute to the development of the military H160M variant, which is being developed under the Light Joint Helicopter (HIL) programme.
