On December 19, 2008, Eurocopter and the UK Ministry of Defence signed a through-life support (TLS) contract for the Puma and Gazelle helicopters operated by the Royal Air Force. This contract, which will run through to the end of 2013, is in line with the approach adopted by the UK Ministry of Defence for modernizing and streamlining all the support contracts for the armed forces’ helicopter fleets. It supersedes a number of former contracts for the Royal Air Force’s HC1 Pumas and AH1 Gazelles, and contains firm guarantees concerning equipment availability.