France tests H160 in Morocco

摘要

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS, the French Aviation Legere de I'Armee de Terre (ALAT - French Army Air Corps) and the Direction Generate de I'Armement (DGA - General Directorate of Armament) recently concluded tests in north Africa of the future H160 Guepard (Cheetah) military helicopter's ability to operate in a sand and dust environment. Announcing details of the trials on August 9, France's Ministere de Armees (Ministry of the Armed Forces) said they had taken place in Ouarzazate, Morocco. Almost ten hours of flight testing were carried out on a commercial H160, which has been selected to be developed into the military Guepard variant for the French armed forces under the Helicoptere Interarmees Leger (HIL, Light Joint-Forces Helicopter) programme. Data from the trials will now be analysed, although the effectiveness of the anti-sand filters protecting the engines has already been noted by pilots and maintenance technicians involved in the testing.