The Airbus H145M helicopter has demonstrated its ability to fire laser guided ground attack rockets for the first time. The Thales FZ2...
The Airbus H145M helicopter has demonstrated its ability to fire laser guided ground attack rockets for the first time.
The Thales FZ275 70mm laser guided rockets firing were carried out at the Älvdalen test range of the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration Flight test Centre.
The system performed flawlessly, despite the rough and challenging environment in the flight test range.
The electro-optical system (MX-15D) from L3 Wescam with embedded laser designation enabled a deviation of less than a meter for all rockets fired at a distance of up to 4.5 km.
This 70mm laser guided air-ground rocket fulfils the precision strike needs of the armed forces worldwide by reducing the risk of collateral damage, particularly during asymmetric combat operations.
“The laser guided rockets from Thales performed incredibly well especially taking into consideration the weather conditions we experienced during the trials which were far from ideal with a lot of moisture in the air” said Raymond Laporte, test pilot at Airbus Helicopters.
Following the success of the ballistic firing tests, held in Hungary in October 2017, the achievement of this new milestone with laser guided rockets is in continuity of Airbus Helicopters’ HForce development strategy to boost the H145M mission capability.
Final qualification of the ballistic HForce system on the H145M is scheduled for end of this year, while the laser-guided rockets is planned for end 2019.
