Eurocopter has achieved the first flight of a Spanish-assembled Tiger attack helicopter, and says the HAD/E-standard aircraft will be delivered "by the end of 2013".
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Flown from Eurocopter Spain's Albacete site on 29 July, aircraft 5002 is drawn from a 24-unit order signed by Madrid. Six Tigers are already in Spanish army use in an earlier HAP/E configuration, and the new type "will significantly reinforce the French-assembled variants", the manufacturer says. Key differences between the models include the new standard's use of more powerful MTRI MTR390E engines, which have been in flight-test in a French-built example HAD/E 5001 since 2010.
According to Eurocopter, the global active military fleet of Tigers had accumulated more than 44,400h of flight time by May 2013.
Flightglobal's Ascend Online Fleets database lists 96 of the type as being flown by the armies of Australia (22), France (42), Germany (26) and Spain (6). The nations signed original deals to acquire a combined 206 Tigers, but Berlin earlier this year revealed a plan to cut its commitment from 80 to 57 aircraft.
Source: Flight International
