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• AS550
• AS555
• Tiger
• EC635
• EC645

The Combat segment introduction:

During the “Cold War” the main issue was to combat large quantities of tanks and armoured vehicles. All air mobile means were thus dedicated to this task with the core role given to anti tank aircraft in counter offensive and defensive mode of action, emphasizing the large number of platforms.

At the same time as the Cold War was ending, the Desert Storm operation saw a continuation of the previous doctrine due to the particularity of the region and country involved. It has to be considered that such a conflict where Friend and Foe are separated by an engagement line is unlikely to happen again in the foreseeable future.

The immediate operational threat has changed. Warfare has shifted from conventional to asymmetric with involvement of small adverse elements, most probably spread deeply into civilian population and in urban areas. Guerrilla warfare and terrorist actions became and will remain the major focus of military action.

Therefore, doctrine has evolved to counter this new threat while retaining the ability to engage in high intensity conflict. Future engagements with troops will most likely be done from the sea, in littoral operations, with a greater emphasis on amphibious forces, not necessarily using dedicated Naval platforms. As a consequence, helicopters will be of paramount importance.

Recent conflicts in Afghanistan, in Iraq and Africa have shown that helicopters are excellent force multipliers and give ground troops the critical and essential flexibility in order to counter multiple and geographically dispersed threats. The evolution and change of the threat has necessarily led to the adaptation of helicopters’ employment.

The capabilities of helicopters for high intensity warfare remain the same as before. What helicopters can do in high intensity conflicts, they can do in asymmetric warfare but their tactics changed. There is a rebalancing of missions with a greater emphasis on multi role combat/light transport helicopters instead of anti-tank helicopters and this is, in particular, true with the development of Special Operations forces. However high intensity operations will always remain a basic driver for military aircraft specifications.