Panthers for Indonesia

According to Airbus Helicopters, first two of 11 ‘ green’ AS565MBe Panthers have been delivered to PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI), which will be adapted for maritime missions and delivered to the Indonesian Navy. PTDI will equip the AS565MBe Panthers with an anti-submarine warfare suite, including dipping sonar and torpedoes. Airbus Helicopters and PTDI also delivered one H215M and two H225M helicopters to the Indonesian Air Force in mid-March, plus two Fennec armed scout helicopters to the Indonesian Army in January. The two H225Ms are the third and fourth of a batch of six units under contract.

Meanwhile, Boeing has begun flight testing of first of the eight AH-64Es ordered by the Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD-Indonesian Army). The helicopters will be flown by Skardon Udara Angkatan Darat 13 Serbu at Achmand Yani Airport, Semarang in Java.