A contract was signed today between Eurocopter and the Royal Thai Air Force for the supply of four EC725 helicopters, configured for search and rescue missions.
Signing the new agreement today were Air Marshal Paiboon Singhamat of the Royal Thai Air Force, and Olivier Lambert, Eurocopter’s Senior Vice President for Sales and Customer Relations.
“This latest endorsement underscores the role of our EC725/EC225 family as the helicopters of reference in Asia for search & rescue,” Lambert said. “It also marks a new step in Eurocopter’s expansion of its ties with Thailand as the country moves ahead with modernization programs for its helicopter fleets.”
Deliveries of the EC725, the twin-engine tactical rotorcraft from Eurocopter’s successful Cougar family, will be in 2015.
“This contract for the EC725 will greatly enhance the capabilities of the Royal Thai Air Force, giving us added reach and effectiveness in search and rescue missions,” stated Air Marshal Paiboon Singhamat, Chairman of the Purchasing Committee.
The twin-engine EC725/EC225 rotary-wing aircraft family features high-performance navigation and mission systems, including a unique digital four-axis autopilot. Offering excellent flight autonomy, this powerful machine is also great for tactical transport as it has a large cabin with seating for 25 persons. As a result, the EC725 military version and its EC225 civilian/parapublic variant have become the reference for civil and military search and rescue, off-shore and passenger transport missions around the world.
Eurocopter already is a helicopter supplier in Thailand for military and law enforcement, having been selected for acquisitions by the Royal Thai Army and Royal Thai Police.
The Royal Thai Air Force or RTAF, established in 1913, is the air force of the Kingdom of Thailand, and ranks as one of the earliest air forces to be formed in Asia. The first airmen that formed the Air Force were trained in France between 1912 and 1913. Currently the Royal Thai Air Force consists of around 45 000 active servicemen under the command of Air Chief Marshal Itthaporn Subhawong. The Royal Thai Air Force has its headquarters at Don Muang Airbase, Bangkok and has several modern bases from which it conducts its administrative, transport, and training operations.
Established in 1992, the Franco-German-Spanish Eurocopter Group is a division of EADS, a world leader in aerospace and defense-related services. The Eurocopter Group employs approximately 20,000 people. In 2011, Eurocopter confirmed its position as the world’s number one helicopter manufacturer with a turnover of 5.4 billion Euros, orders for 457 new helicopters and a 43 percent market share in the civil and parapublic sectors.
