Aircraft
ALAT is currently suffering from aging equipment and inadequate training of its crews, which has caused various incidents. According to a report of the National Assembly of 2007 'the potential of the primary aircraft has in fact decreased sharply since 2004, with the decline to accelerate in 2008. In 2005, however, the ALAT has after a long wait his first Eurocopter EC665 Tiger, which are the first helicopter specifically designed for combat and developed in France, and including all 80 copies have been ordered to date to replace cannon and Mistral-armed SA341 Gazelles. Delivery of 80 aircraft is expected to be completed in 2020. On April 15, 2011, 30 helicopters were delivered to the ALAT, including 16 combat capable.
Aircraft | Origin | Type | Quantity | Comments | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fixed-wing aircraft | ||||||||
Pilatus PC-6 | Switzerland | Training aircraft | 5 | |||||
SOCATA TBM | France | VIP transport & Utility | 11 | |||||
Helicopters | ||||||||
Eurocopter Tiger | Europe | Attack helicopter | 36 | 44 more on order. | ||||
NHIndustries NH90 | Europe | Transport helicopter | 0 | 34 on order. Plus an option for 34 more. | ||||
AƩrospatiale Puma | France | Transport helicopter | 92 | |||||
Eurocopter Caracal | France | Transport helicopter | 8 | More on order. | ||||
Eurocopter Cougar | France | Transport helicopter | 23 | |||||
AƩrospatiale Gazelle | France | Reconnaissance helicopter | 153 | |||||
Eurocopter Fennec | France | Training helicopter | 18 |
Read more about this topic: French Army Light Aviation