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The UK is unlikely to replace its fleet of Airbus Helicopters Puma HC2s with a high-speed platform from the USA’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) programme due to timing issues, but nonetheless continues to assess that effort – and a separate NATO-led initiative – against its longer-term requirements.
While the UK believes that “there is a requirement for a medium aircraft in the future”, the 23 Pumas operated by the Royal Air Force are due for retirement by 2025, says Colonel Paul Morris, assistant head of plans, capability air manouevre for the British Army.But that timeframe is likely to be too tight to dovetail with the US Army’s FVL effort, which foresees service entry of a new rotorcraft under its Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) programme – either the Bell V-280 Valor or Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant – around 2030.
“We don’t believe that FLRAA will come on line rapidly enough to replace the capability currently delivered by the Puma,” Morris told the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Next-Generation Rotorcraft Conference on 20 January.
While the exact timeline has still to be decided, “suffice to say that they just don’t match in terms of the first entry into service on the other side of the pond and our own requirement to replace medium”.
While the Puma’s out-of-service date could be extended, says Morris, obsolescence issues will become more of a problem, despite it remaining a “capable aircraft”.But that timeframe is likely to be too tight to dovetail with the US Army’s FVL effort, which foresees service entry of a new rotorcraft under its Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) programme – either the Bell V-280 Valor or Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant – around 2030.
“We don’t believe that FLRAA will come on line rapidly enough to replace the capability currently delivered by the Puma,” Morris told the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Next-Generation Rotorcraft Conference on 20 January.
While the exact timeline has still to be decided, “suffice to say that they just don’t match in terms of the first entry into service on the other side of the pond and our own requirement to replace medium”.
While the Puma’s out-of-service date could be extended, says Morris, obsolescence issues will become more of a problem, despite it remaining a “capable aircraft”.

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Lieutenant Commander Andrew White, ... holding a post in the UK’s capability air manoeuvre body, told the conference that any interim Puma replacement would be expected to have a service life of around 20 years.
On that basis “the UK would be looking again around 2045”. If the service life of the Merlin fleet was extended, that would be retired around 2040.
“From the mid-2030s to 2040 there is definitely a UK requirement on two fronts,” he says.

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Airbus Helicopters could offer the H175 super-medium-twin to the UK as a replacement for the Royal Air Force’s fleet of Puma utility helicopters in 2025 – despite the fact that no military variant of the 8t rotorcraft exists.

In fact, Airbus Helicopters has consistently said that it was prevented from developing a military version due its partnership agreement with China on the programme.

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Source: Airbus Helicopters

Hong Kong’s Government Flying Service operates H175 for SAR missions

However, Jerome Combe, head of product policy and strategy at the airframer, told the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Next-Generation Rotorcraft Conference on 21 January that it could offer several alternatives as a Puma replacement, including the H175.

The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-powered twin could “really offer a huge opportunity for the UK”, he says, including in-country final assembly and increased national content.

UK-built examples could also be offered for export, he says.

China’s Avicopter has been a partner on the programme since its launch in 2005. It supplies components to the H175, including fuselage parts, but also builds its own version, the AC352, which is powered by Safran Ardiden 3C engines.

Airbus Helicopters declines to comment on how it would sidestep limitations relating to a military variant. However, one solution could be to substitute Chinese content on the helicopter.

An Airbus Helicopters spokesman says: “Airbus Helicopters looks forward to addressing the UK’s future medium helicopter requirements as they take shape and we are confident that we can offer attractive solutions which will both fully meet the armed forces’ operational needs and contribute to a strong national prosperity agenda.

“Airbus has an established, substantial and world-class design and manufacturing footprint in the UK and we have never been averse to the implementation of a helicopter final assembly line where it makes commercial sense for the worldwide market.”

As part of its unsuccessful bid to sell search and rescue-roled H175s to competitors for the UK’s SAR privatisation last decade, Airbus Helicopters offered a degree of industrial participation in the programme.

Under that initiative it promised to turn its Aberdeen, Scotland site into a SAR “centre of excellence”, providing training and modification work for all SAR-configured H175s.

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Source: Crown Copyright

Puma fleet was raised to HC2 standard in 2010s

At present the Puma has an out of service date of 2025, but Airbus Helicopters says it could support the type up to 2035, potentially aligning its departure with the arrival of a next-generation platform.

Although initially delivered in the 1970s, the UK’s current 23-strong fleet were modernised in the mid-2010s, raising them to the HC2 standard, an upgrade that included a new digital cockpit and uprated engines.

“The Puma 2 is a proven high-performance and value-for-money capability, which entered service in 2015 hosting the latest digital avionics and mission systems.

“Airbus is committed to its support and continued service beyond its current out-of-service date out to 2035.”

No programme of record for a Puma replacement currently exists, with a decision to be influenced by the UK Ministry of Defence’s ongoing Integrated Review.

However, should a requirement emerge, Leonardo Helicopters will offer the 8.6t AW149, which would also be built in the UK.

Leonardo has a more pressing need to secure work for its Yeovil final assembly line in Somerset: having assembled the final AW159 Wildcat in 2019 it is currently only building AW101s.

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the Royal Air Force’s 23-strong fleet of Puma HC2 helicopters, plus three other types operated by the British Army

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7.39. The Army is retiring its oldest CH-47 Chinook helicopters and investing, alongside the US, in newer variants of this operationally proven aircraft, enhancing capability, efficiency and interoperability. Our AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopters will be upgraded to a state-of-the-art capability by 2025. Investment in a new medium lift helicopter in the mid-2020s will enable a consolidation of the Army’s disparate fleet of medium lift helicopters from four platform types to one; including the replacement of Puma. The Army will also retain and upgrade Watchkeeper.

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The New Medium Helicopter Programme will see four of the medium-sized helicopters currently in service across Defence replaced by one new helicopter. This will include the Bell 212 that is used by the Army Air Corps in the jungle areas of Brunei.

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Employed by the Army Air Corps in the reconnaissance and battlefield liaison role, the Gazelle also relies on a pool of what Smith describes as “really highly-trained” flightcrew, who are used to operating as a single pilot in “quite challenging weather conditions”.
“How much longer do we want to rely [on those crews]...and at what point do we want technology to reduce that workload?” asks Smith.
A replacement programme is unlikely to be a like-for-like acquisition: thanks to advances in technology, Smith believes that a similar or better capability could be provided with a smaller number of platforms.
“Looking at the number of Gazelles, we think we can deliver a customer product with significantly fewer than we have today,” he says.

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The US airframer, part of Lockheed Martin, proposed the S-70M in its response to a request for information from the UK Ministry of Defence submitted on 9 December.

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