Australias new shipment of 22 tiger ARH helicopters arrived

January 2005

ARMY’S TIGER ARMED RECONNAISSANCE HELICOPTERS ARRIVE

The Australian Army took delivery of the first of 22 state of the art Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters at a ceremony at Oakey in Queensland, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced.

"The delivery of the first Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) to the Australian Army represents a significant milestone in the development of the Army Aviation capability and to the Australian Defence Force," Senator Hill said.

"The Tiger ARH is equipped with leading edge technology in its sensors, data links and communications and provide a major new capability for Army. Fitted with Hellfire missiles, 70mm rockets and cannons, the heavily armed Tiger ARH will significantly enhance the reconnaissance and firepower capabilities of the Army combined arms team, which will also be augmented soon by the Abrams Main Battle Tank.

"The Tigers’ flexibility, ability to deploy at short notice and to operate in diverse circumstances represents a revolution in the Australian Army's operational versatility. The Army will be able to conduct tactical reconnaissance and escort and protect our Black Hawk helicopters as they transport troops and supplies."

Today’s ceremony was attended by the Industry Minister and Member for Groom, Ian Macfarlane, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, Teresa Gambaro.

Senator Hill praised the work of the Defence Materiel Organisation and Australian Aerospace for their outstanding work in delivering the helicopters to the Army.

"The contract schedule was very demanding, culminating in the successful delivery of the first two Tigers today, on schedule and on budget," Senator Hill said.

"Australian Aerospace and the Commonwealth have worked cooperatively to meet this demanding schedule, in a manner that establishes the benchmark for successful Defence Materiel business standards in the future.

"The new Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Materiel Organisation, Dr Stephen Gumley, and his counterpart at Australian Aerospace, Mr Joseph Saporito, should be congratulated.

"Project success would not have been possible without the assistance of the French and German Governments. The ARH is following after the Tiger variants of both nations. French and German armament and certification agencies extended considerable resources and effort to Australia in order for the project to succeed by today."

The first four ARH are being assembled at Eurocopter in France. Additionally, Thales in France is assembling the ARH Aircrew simulators. The remaining 18 ARH are being assembled at the Australian Aerospace production facility at Brisbane.


mod edit- caps in title

[edit on 23-5-2005 by asala]

Dude I love the articles you find, but also try and put your own opinion in them it makes your posts more intresting. I know sometimes its hard to form a opinion on certain things but just try don't always post something if you don't have a opinion on it.

Uh, is this a direct quote of someone else's work?

I'm going to have to assume so, and since we allow a paragraph and then a link, and also need coments from the poster, this thread needs some work.

It seems the Tiger AH, is a major departure from buying American in the last 20 years. I can't think of any major weapons sytems we have bought in the last 30 years which haven't been US except the Collins class submarines. It is interesting to note though that the Aussie Tiger will use the US Hellfire II missile instead of indigenous European missiles. I believe this is the first time such a weapon system has been integrated with a foreign product.

I saw the Tiger performing at an airshow in Victoria about 2 years ago, it was very impressive, kinda reminded me of the AH-1 Cobra in terms of it's front profile.

If we had these helicopters a few years earlier, they would be operating in Iraq with our troops. As it is at the moment we have to rely on the US for air cover, which was a contentious point here for a while.

Its about time though that we had a dedicated gunship for our military instead of the now retired bastardised Huey gunships.

So to liven up this thread a bit - Is the Tiger the best helicopter for the job or could a comparible helicopter like the Apache do a better job ?

The Tiger has much longer range than the Apache on internal fuel at
800km versus 400km for the Apache.
For the Apache to match the Tiger's Range it needs to carry two external tanks, reducing its armament load to that of the Tiger.
The Aussie Tiger is the first helicopter of this family to use AGM-114K/M Hellfire II Missile. K - with Heat warhead. M - Blast Frag warhead for fixed targets,light armour and for use against warships. Both warheads are interchangable.

I always like when ppl add some flavour to threads with a pic or two so here goes:

www.defense-aerospace.com...


The first test firing of a Hellfire missile from Australia’s new Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter has been held at Woomera in South Australia, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced today.

well the Apache is an oooold aircraft, im sure we can make a better craft than the tiiiiiger , but in ani case its a good aircraft to buy.

Still not as fast or as good looking as the lynx helicopter.

Nice chopper though.