The retrofit of the Kuwaiti Puma and Super Puma helicopters began in September 2002 and is now drawing to an end. This ambitious layup has been completed successfully.

At the end of the 1990s, the Kuwaiti Army’s fleet of eight SA330 L Puma and five AS332 B1 Super Puma helicopters were coming to the end of their service life. These aircraft needed an overhaul while the question of their future use was also being broached. The decision was then made to take advantage of the overhaul in order to retrofit the entire fleet. This would give the Pumas and Super Pumas extended operational capabilities with, in particular, the capability to fly night operations. Eurocopter won the contract and the work began in 2002.
“This was the first complete retrofit that we have carried out,” explains Patrick Cohen de Lara, the coordinator of the Kuwait contract. “The modifications were so extensive that we had to get the French Armament Procurement Agency (DGA) to qualify the installation of the new equipment.”
The Kuwaiti Pumas and Super Pumas were, for example, the first aircraft of their kind to be equipped with electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) multifunction screens. “But we needed to adapt the Puma’s 3-axis autopilot to the new avionics,” explains Thierry Gomez, who was in charge of the contract during the qualification phase. “The same thing had to be done with the 4-axis flight coupler on the Super Puma. The interfacing of the old analogue equipment with the new digital avionics required complex adaptation work.” The helicopters were also equipped with electronic countermeasures systems, radar threat detectors, and chaff and flare dispensers.
“We had to modify the technical content of certain aspects of the retrofit, but we never exceeded the budgetary framework that was set at the beginning,” continues Thierry Gomez. “We also kept to the initial and contractual technical specifications; and the layup itself was carried out on time.”
The very strong personal relationships formed between the Kuwaiti clients and their Eurocopter contacts were undoubtedly a major factor behind the success of this programme. “The Kuwaitis are deeply attached to the Eurocopter brand, and the excellent relationship that we have allows us to envisage the possibility of future contracts,” Patrick Cohen de Lara insists.
The work began on the Pumas in 2002 and all the aircraft will be delivered before the end of March 2008. The aircraft are configured for the transport of VVIPs, and they are also equipped with the same self-protection equipment as purely military transport helicopters.