Airbus Helicopters’ new H145M military helicopter has successfully launched 70mm laser-guided rockets during a firing campaign in Sweden.
The company demonstrated the ability of the aircraft to fire FZ275 laser-guided rockets during the launch.
The demonstration was carried out in a difficult and challenging environment at the Älvdalen test range of the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration Flight Test Centre.
Airbus Helicopters test pilot Raymond Laporte said: “The laser-guided rockets from Thales performed incredibly well especially taking into consideration the weather conditions we experienced during the trials, which were far from ideal with a lot of moisture in the air.”
Thales’ laser-guided air-ground rocket helps improve the engagement capabilities of the Airbus’ H145M helicopter, in addition to addressing the precision strike requirements of the armed forces across the globe by reducing the risk of collateral damage, specifically during asymmetric combat operations.
The H145M aircraft successfully carried out ballistic firing tests in Hungary in October last year.
The successful firing of the laser-guided rocket supports the company’s HForce development strategy that helps strengthen the mission capability of the helicopter.
By the end of this year, final qualification of the ballistic HForce system on the H145M aircraft is scheduled to be attained.
The final qualification of the laser-guided rockets is also planned for the end of next year.
