The Indonesian Navy is conducting a Customer Acceptance Flight for its new Airbus AS565 Panther helicopter. Representing the Indonesian Naval Aviation Center (Puspenerbal), Colonel Gugus Wahyu Setyo Utomo, Commander of Wing Air 1, joined the Customer Acceptance Flight Team at PT Dirgantara Indonesia. The team also included representatives from the Ministry of Defense and the Indonesian Navy Headquarters. Colonel Utomo revealed this development at Wing Air 1’s headquarters in Tanjungpinang on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. The acceptance flight activities for the AS565 MBe Panther anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter, designated HS-1307, are scheduled to take place from July 31 to August 7, 2024. The event commenced with an opening session, providing an update on the AS565 MBe Panther project. The helicopter, identified by hull number HS-1307, is set to strengthen the 400 Squadron under Wing Air 1’s operational command. Following the opening, the team conducted a direct inspection of the AS565 MBe Panther helicopter.
The inspection included a comprehensive review of the helicopter’s condition and functionality, with a particular focus on the torpedo system. The team observed functional tests for the torpedo’s normal firing and jettison operations, ensuring the helicopter meets all operational requirements for anti-submarine warfare missions. This Customer Acceptance Flight marks a crucial milestone in the operational readiness of the Indonesian Navy’s anti-submarine warfare fleet. The AS565 MBe Panther, equipped with advanced avionics and weaponry, is expected to enhance the Navy’s capability to detect and counter submarine threats in Indonesian waters. The addition of this helicopter to Squadron 400 reflects the Navy’s ongoing commitment to modernizing its fleet and improving its maritime defense capabilities. As the acceptance activities continue, the Indonesian Navy looks forward to officially incorporating the AS565 MBe Panther into its ASW operations, reinforcing its defense posture in the region.
The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) AS565 Panther is the military version of the Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin medium-weight multi-purpose twin-engine helicopter. The Panther is used for a wide range of military roles, including maritime security, search and rescue (SAR), casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), vertical replenishment, surveillance, special forces operations, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and Anti-surface warfare (ASuW). The AS565 MBe combines new and proven technologies to offer more value to operators. It is equipped with two Safran Arriel 2N engines, which enhance its performance in hot & high conditions and enable it to achieve a top speed of 278 km/h and a range of 780 kilometers. It also boasts a new main gearbox, a latest-generation tail rotor and a 4-axis autopilot that reduces crew workload and makes the most demanding missions, such as SAR, easier to perform. More powerful and efficient, the AS565 MBe is also safer, more cost-effective and easier to operate.
The principle element of ASW-configured Panthers is the Helicopter Long-Range Active Sonar (HELRAS), a dipping sonar equipped with a descending array of seven projection elements and a receiving array equipped with eight extending arms, which is capable of detecting submarines up to 500 meters below the water’s surface. According to Airbus Helicopters, the Panther family has been qualified to operate from the flight decks of over 100 classes of NATO vessels, and complies with NATO standardization agreements. The compact size of the Panther has enabled the type to be operated from smaller ocean-going vessels such as corvettes. To aid in shipboard landings under rough sea conditions and high winds, some variants can be furnished with the hydraulic Harpoon deck-lock securing device.
This Indonesian MBe Panther programme is the latest of a long-standing relationship between Airbus Helicopters and PT Dirgantara Indonesia, who celebrated their 40 years of strategic partnership earlier this month. The two companies have delivered more than 190 helicopters together, through joint programmes over the last four decades. Under the agreement, Airbus Helicopters had supplied the AS565 MBe helicopters to its Indonesia industrial partner PT Dirgantara Indonesia, who reassembled and outfited these rotorcraft in-country, acting as the design authority. This will notably cover the installation of the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) suite which includes a dipping sonar and torpedo launch systems, allowing the Indonesian Navy to carry out its most demanding missions. In the Asian market, the European-built Panther has had limited sales mainly due to export competition from the Chinese-built Harbin Z-9, itself a license-built derivative of the Dauphin alike to the Panther.
Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence Airport in Marignane, France, near Marseille. The main facilities of Airbus Helicopters are at its headquarters in Marignane, France, and in Donauwörth, Germany, with additional production plants in Canada, Brazil (Helibras), Australia, Spain, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States. The company, originally named Eurocopter, was rebranded Airbus Helicopters on 2 January 2014. Its in-service fleet includes nearly 12,000 helicopters operated by more than 3,000 customers in 154 countries. Airbus Helicopters employs more than 22,000 people worldwide and in 2015 generated revenues of 6.8 billion euros.
