What is happening around the world with the AS342 Gazelle?

[MEhelos]

I work with a small fleet of military Gazelles. I am hearing about them being withdrawn from military service by Britain and France. What about other major users?

I am concerened that with the cancellation of the ASTAZOU type certificates for most model engines, with the current engine no longer in general production, and a world wide reduction in military users of this aircraft will make part availability dry up and costs for anything Gazelle related soar to the point it would be unsustainable even by a nation state.

Eurocopter states that as long as one is still flying they will support the Gazelle. However...
Over the last five years it seems that Eurocopter has gotten more and more difficult to deal with and thier customer service has become useless. Of course, with French business practices, they have always been a little difficult.:

I didn't want to rely on internet searches for news articles so I decided to ask around a bit and see what kind of information I could come up with.

Anybody have any info?


Thanks

 

[djpav]

Well, I don't know if you would call them a "major user" but the National Guard of Cyprus owns and operates 4 SA-342L Gazelle scout anti-tank helicopters...

 

[MEhelos]

Well, I don't know if you would call them a "major user" but the National Guard of Cyprus owns and operates 4 SA-342L Gazelle scout anti-tank helicopters...

I would have to say that is part of the uncertainty of what is happening in the Gazelle community.

Almost all operators of these aircraft have a small number flying. China has 5, Ireland 2 still flying (so I have heard) and so on. France and England had the only large fleets left.

These aircraft are excellent trainers, easy to operate and maintain. they're rugged simple little machines that can take a lot of abuse, however thier days as a warfighting machine (in my opinion) are over.

I'm trying to see it as a cost versus benefit issue.