Weapon trials of Airbus Helicopters

Airbus Helicopters has completed a ballistic development test of an HForce weapon system on a H145M in Hungary. The test systems include guns (FN Herstal HMP400), unguided rockets (Thales FZ231) and cannon (Nexter NC621) as well as an electro-optical targeting system by Wescam (MX15) and a helmet mounted sight display from Thales (Scorpion). Next steps prior to the qualification of HForce on the H145M are the development testing of laser-guided rockets in Sweden before the end of the year as well as additional live-firing trials in summer 2018.HForce is an innovative, incremental and integrated high performance weapon system that can be fitted (“plug and play”) into Airbus Helicopter’s military platforms such as H125M, H145M and H225M for ambitious and smart military operations where flexibility of mission equipment is a vital criterion-Meanwhile, qualification of the core HForce system is on track for end 2017, following an extensive flight-test campaign carried out on a H225M testbed.