Speaking at the Singapore Airshow on 21 February, Airbus Helicopters’ Vice President/Head of Marketing & Sales Fabrice Rochereau said his company sees a demand for an additional 1,500 military helicopters across the Asia Pacific region over the coming decade.
Rochereau said that the expected demand will come from countries across the region seeking to renew and modernise their existing fleets of helicopters, particularly in the medium utility, specialised attack and heavy combat and naval utility helicopter sectors.
“Asia-Pacific is a key market for Airbus, where we have a quarter of the helicopter fleet share today,” he noted. “There are currently 2,200 Airbus helicopters operating in the region for a wide range of civil, parapublic and military missions.”
Airbus Helicopters has enjoyed recent success in the region with the sale of 16 H225M Super Puma medium lift helicopters to the Republic of Singapore Air Force and an example was to be seen in the RSAF static display area at the show. The new helicopters replace older AS532M versions of the Super Puma/Cougar family in service with the RSAF.
The company was also promoting its H145M light battlefield support and attack helicopter at Singapore 2024 and displayed a mock up of the helicopter in the static parking area adjacent to its chalet. Over 500 H145Ms have been delivered to 10 defence forces around the world and 60 more are on order.
“The H145M is well referenced around the world for its crucial capability of delivering troops and goods efficiently while deploying the required power to support military operations,” Rochereau added.
“It is also designed to perform in a multi-domain environment, which is the prefect asset for military operators in this region.”
Rochereau said that Airbus Helicopters also sees an increased demand for special operations, search and rescue and tactical transport missions and, that with over 160 delivered and 40 on order, the H225M is well-positioned in the market.
“Four of our ten H225M customers are in the Asia-Pacific region, which underlines the success of this force multiplier that continues to enable military forces to deploy rapidly in all-weather environments,” he asserted. “This is in addition to the large number of H225 operators in the region, utilising the helicopter for various civil and parapublic missions.
“There are significant opportunities for both H225M and H145M in Asia-Pacific. Airbus is confident that these helicopters will become critical assets complementing the military operators’ existing fleet.”