Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), has awarded a contract to Airbus Helicopters for the development, production, and initial in-service support of the Tiger MkIII attack helicopter upgrade programme on behalf of the French and Spanish Armament Directorates, the DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement) and the DGAM (Dirección General de Armamento y Material).
The contract includes the upgrade of 42 rotorcrafts for France and 18 for Spain. France has the option of adding another 25 helicopters. Germany may also join the Tiger MkIII programme later. The first upgraded prototype is scheduled for an inaugural flight in 2025.
The French DGA will receive the first delivery in late 2029 and will be followed by the first delivery to Spain in 2030. Airbus will conduct the development and upgrade work in Albacete (Spain), Marignane (France) and Donauwörth (Germany).
Tiger MkIII aims to convert Tiger into difficult to detect, highly agile, and highly survivable helicopter. The Tiger MkIII standard configuration will include for both countries, the integration of the Safran Strix NG sights, the Thales FlytX avionics suite, the Topowl DD helmet-mounted sight display, an Indra IFF upgrade, Thales GNSS, and Safran’s inertial navigation system. The French Tiger MkIII will be equipped with a battlefield management system by ATOS and countermeasures provided by Thales whereas the Spanish Tiger MkIII will be equipped with a battlefield management system and countermeasures provided by Indra.
While France prefers the MBDA MAST-F (Future Tactical Air-to-Surface Missile) and Mistral 3 air-to-air missile as the new weapon package, Spain preferred to add 70mm guided rockets and new air to ground missile into the package.
