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Airbus Helicopters has proposed an upgraded Tiger for the Australian Army’s LAND 4503 requirement for a new armed reconnaissance helicopter (ARH). LAND 4503 calls for platforms that can “deliver armed reconnaissance efforts in close and deep contested battlespace” and is looking for up to 29 aircraft to replace the troubled current in-service ARH Tiger.

Although met with surprise in some quarters, the Airbus Helicopters response to the Army’s request for information (RFI) makes some sense. Acquisition of an upgraded Tiger platform would leverage both the sustainment infrastructure developed and in place for the current Tiger, and would enable an extension of life of a known platform, with arguably significant savings, into the 2030s to facilitate adoption of a next generation future vertical life (FVL) platform.

Airbus Australia Pacific Managing Director and Head of Country Andrew Mathewson argued that an upgraded Tiger made the most sense in terms of budget:

“We see ourselves as the perfect bridging capability to whatever is the next capability that Defence would consider. And publicly, the indicators are that is likely to be the future vertical lift (FVL) capability. So for us, that would mean extending Tiger by a further 15 years beyond 2025. From a value for money perspective, that puts us in a great position, because any other alternative capability to introduce it, effectively it would only just be being matured in the early 2030s to be taken out of service in the late 2030s. To my mind it doesn’t make a great deal of sense from a value-for-money perspective.”

An Australian Army ARH Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter fires its 30mm cannon during a live-fire exercise while deployed with HMAS Canberra. Courtesy Australian Army.

The in-service Tiger has a chequered history. The platform reached full operational capability seven years later than its planned in-service date in 2009. This meant that Australian forces in Afghanistan were forced to rely upon Coalition attack aviation support rather than being able to call upon their own assets. Differences in procedures and rules of engagement created a number of challenges for Australian Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs), particularly when operating with Dutch Apaches.

The Tiger has also been a costly capability. Sustainment costs have doubled although an Army programme spokesperson noted “There is no question that Tiger cost of ownership has exceeded the original contract value, but it is important to recognise that the original contract was not capable of delivering support to a complex weapon system like Tiger.” Indeed, the Tiger contract was renegotiated in 2008 for this very reason.

Tiger is up against stiff competition with the Bell AH-1Z Viper and the Boeing AH-64E Guardian Apache in the frame. Both offer significant interoperability advantages with Coalition forces with the US Marines, who maintain a significant presence in far north Queensland, operating the Viper and the US and British armies adopting the AH-64E.