26. September 2018

Tiger – Launch of the de-risking phase for mid-life upgrade (MkIII)

OCCAR-EA has placed two contracts with a consortium composed of Airbus Helicopters Tiger, Thales AVS and MBDA, on behalf of the French, German and Spanish Armament agencies, DGA, BAAINBw and DGAM. They aim to de-risk the obsolescence treatment of the current Tiger helicopters, as well as the implementation of new capabilities.

At the table, from left to right: Mr. Ariel Valensi (MBDA - Deputy of France Sales, Business Development Director Head of Contract Expertise), Andreas Goern (Airbus Helicopters Tiger - Director), Mr. Arturo Alfonso Meiriño (OCCAR Director) and Fabienne Fossey (Thales Avionics - Commercial manager). Second row, OCCAR Tiger Division staff members. © OCCAR

The launch of this new phase is the conclusion of a 3-year work period between the three Participating States (France, Germany and Spain), Airbus Helicopters and OCCAR, to investigate possible technologies and architectures able to meet future operational requirements.

German TIGER © Airbus Helicopters

At the end of these de-risking studies, France, Germany and Spain shall have a technical baseline to decide on the launch of the development of a Mid-Life Upgrade (MkIII). MkIII will integrate advanced technologies such as a new avionics suite and will provide an improved weapon system, allowing Tiger to keep superiority on the battlefield for the next decades.