Airbus Helicopters has added two new U.S-built vehicles to its portfolio of H125 military helicopters.
The AH-125 and MH-125 Ares will offer a variety of militarized options to best meet the demands of military and parapublic allies and partners worldwide, Airbus announced from Grand Prairie, Texas on Monday.
Scott Tumpak, vice president of Airbus U.S. Space and Defense’s military business arm, said that these additions to the company’s lineup have the capability, reliability and flexibility necessary to serve U.S. allies and partners across a wide range of rotary wing missions, such as light attack, disaster response and other parapublic missions.
He said that the aircraft will be constructed at an Airbus Helicopters facility in Columbus, Mississippi.
To complement the company’s current set of military helicopters, including the H125M, the AH-125 Ares will be configured as the armed version of the helicopter while the MH-125 Ares will be built to fill multiple roles spanning different operations. This family of helicopters is intended to be transformed for different mission sets in under 30 minutes.
Weapons installation design, engineering, certification and manufacturing will be performed by MAG Aerospace. The helicopters will support a number of weapons, including a .50 caliber gun and unguided rockets, and offer an option for precision-guided weapons. The installation enables doors-on flight throughout the mission.
“MAG Aerospace is thrilled to team with Airbus to combine our unique platform engineering and modification capabilities with the world-class leader in the single-engine helicopter market. It’s an honor to work with Airbus and expand our ability to serve our partners in the U.S. and around the world,” said MAG Aerospace President Matt Bartlett.
U.S. federal and law enforcement agencies have already adopted the H125 aircraft. With over 100 of these helicopters currently being used by Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. represents the largest customer and operator of the vehicle.
The U.S. military utilizes other Airbus products, including the UH-72A and UH-72B Lakota helicopters. Since 2006, more than 480 of these vehicles have been delivered to the Army and National Guard.
Airbus has also provided nearly 100 MH-65 helicopters to the Coast Guard, which are used in the organization’s homeland security, drug interdiction and lifesaving missions.