The German Defence Ministry has no plans to affix a joint European effort to modernize the breakdown-prone Tiger MKIII assault helicopter and can finally part out the fashions at the moment in use by the army.
Investigations have proven that “participation in the Tiger MKIII programme would be highly risky in terms of costs and time,” a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense instructed dpa on Saturday.
Spain and France are collectively backing an effort to improve the helicopters, that are constructed by Airbus Helicopters.
The ministry spokeswoman stated that “according to current planning, the last German Tiger attack helicopter will be taken out of service in 2038” with out additional motion.
In April 2022, then-defence minister Christine Lambrecht instructed parliament that solely 9 of the nation’s 51 Tiger helicopters have been operational.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspaper reported on Saturday that the Bundeswehr, Germany’s army, will start slowly lowering its fleet starting in 2031.
The newspaper reported that Germany plans to adapt lighter helicopters initially designed for civilian use as an alternative of switching to different assault helicopters at the moment out there in the marketplace, together with the US-built Apache and Viper helicopters.
“The Bundeswehr is planning to purchase light attack helicopters that are available on the market,” the Defence Ministry spokeswoman confirmed to dpa.
The helicopters into account are able to comparable fight operations as assault helicopters. The spokeswoman stated that adapting available civilian fashions might present the Bundeswehr “with a powerful and assertive light combat helicopter at short notice.”
When requested by dpa about concrete plans, the spokeswoman stated ony that the ministry is at the moment engaged on “future-oriented solutions.”
Source: www.anews.com.tr
