Saudis May Go Russian As France Loses Out

Augusta-Bell 212 and 412 twin-Hueys form the mainstay of Saudi Arabia's current helicopter fleet. The RSAF also includes a squadron of AH-64A Apache attack helicopters, some S-70A-1L Black Hawks with desert modifications, AS365F Dauphins in naval attack and SAR variants, AS532 Cougar SAR aircraft, AS332F-1 Super Pumas, Bell 406CS combat scouts, and a few Kawasaki/Boeing KV-107s (CH-46 Sea Knight variant) used in MEDEVAC roles.

In July 2006, "The 2006 Saudi Shopping Spree: "More Helicopters from Eurocopter" reported a tentative agreement for up to 132 helicopters: 54 NH90 TTH troop transports, 10 NH90 NFH naval, 32 AS 550 Fennec light helicopters, 20 AS 532-A2 Cougar CSAR helicopters, 4 AS 565 Panther naval CSAR helicopters, and 12 Tiger attack helicopters.

Now Defense-Aerospace, who announced the original agreement, is announcing that it has fallen through and been supplanted by a $2.2 billion Russian order -and explains why it happened….

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