- This helicopter is intended to complete the fleet of 26 Caracals in service in the armies which will soon be operated by the Air and Space Force and which are regularly deployed during external operations.
- These helicopters replace the Puma of the Air and Space Force currently based overseas and abroad (Guyana, New Caledonia and Djibouti). This 8e hélicoptère sera déployé en Nouvelle-Calédonie.Â
In 2021, in order to support the aeronautics industry hit hard by the health crisis, the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans decided to acquire in advance eight H225M Caracal helicopters to replace the SA330 Puma.
The latest addition to the Puma / Super Puma / Cougar family of helicopters, more efficient than the SA330 Puma, the H225M Caracal is the latest standard helicopter in the Super Puma family. The Caracal is a modern aircraft optimized to carry out combat search and rescue, tactical transport or medical evacuation missions day and night. Versatile, the Caracal carries out these numerous missions both on national territory and in external operations.
Thanks to its boom, which allows it to be refueled in flight by tactical transport aircraft such as the A400M Atlas, the Caracal has the best reach and autonomy in its category, allowing it to carry out its missions in France and in theaters of operations.
The eight helicopters delivered benefit from improvements compared to previous versions: increased detection with the latest generation optronic camera, the Euroflir 410, a modernized cockpit and equipped with four screens multi fonction display 10×8 inches, more precise navigation with CMA5024 GPS, new radios and electric winches, as well as two additional steerable headlights (white and infrared) for night operations.
This order mainly benefited the French industry, Airbus Helicopters and its main subcontractors including Safran Helicopter Engines, Safran Electronics & Defense and Thales. The Caracals are assembled at the Airbus Helicopters site in Marignane (13) where more than 12,500 people work. people. It is the second largest industrial site in France. The Caracal’s airframes and dynamic assemblies are also manufactured on site and the Makila 2A engines are manufactured by Safran Helicopter Engines in Bordes (64).
The Air and Space Force will very soon have a total fleet of 27 Caracals. In mainland France, they operate from air base 120 in Cazaux (33), where they are deployed by the 1/67 “Pyrénées” helicopter squadron. Overseas and abroad, the Caracal are distributed between the air bases of Cayenne (973), Djibouti and Tontouta (988) from this summer.
