An interesting new Kuwaiti helicopter emerged from the Airbus facilities at Marseille/Marignane, France. Three brand new H225M helicopters, formerly known as Eurocopter EC725 Caracal for the Kuwait National Guard have left our facility in Marignane heading towards their new home. In June 2015, Kuwait was negotiating to acquire up to 24 H225M Caracals for the Kuwait Air Force (KAF) and 6 for the Kuwait National Guard. Eventually the Kuwait Ministry of Defence and Airbus Helicopters signed a USD 1 billion plus contract for 30 H225Ms in August 2016.
Kuwait’s fleet of H225M Caracal will be used for a wide variety of missions such as combat search-and-rescue, naval operations, medical evacuation and military transportation. The helicopters will be operated by the Kuwait Air Force and the Kuwait National Guard. A combat-proven platform with exceptional payload, a world-class automatic flight control system and long endurance, the H225M Caracal has demonstrated its versatility and performance even in the harshest operational environments.
The Eurocopter EC725 Caracal, now called Airbus Helicopters H225M, is a long-range tactical transport military helicopter developed from the Eurocopter AS532 Cougar for military use. It is a twin-engined aircraft and can carry up to 28 seated troops along with two crew, depending on customer configuration. Kuwait is the latest nation to join the community of Caracal users with 138 H225M Caracal having been ordered so far by France, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Kuwait.
