Cyprus shows off its new Airbus military helicopters touted as more advanced than what Germany has

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Cyprus connected Friday unveiled 4 of its newly-delivered Airbus H145 helicopters that officials accidental are among the astir precocious rotorcraft successful the connection with a proven way grounds that gives the Cypriot National Guard an operational edge.

The chopper is presently utilized by Germany, the U.S. Hungary, Belgium, Ireland and different militaries with implicit 500 variants presently successful operation, logging implicit 8 cardinal formation hours, according to Cyprus Defense Minister Vassilis Palmas.

“The caller chopper is simply a multi-role, integer instrumentality that is geared toward the demands of the 21st century,” Palmas told a ceremonial astatine Cyprus’ main Paphos aerial base.

Two much of the state-of-the-art craft volition beryllium delivered, portion the declaration with Airbus allows for the acquisition of further helicopters, said Airbus Senior Vice President for the H145 programme Daniela Dudek.

Dudek said the reliability of the 3.8 ton craft is affirmed by its 40 years of work but the integration of precocious avionics and weapons systems marque it the “most military-capable craft successful its category.”

“What we achieved implicit years to rapidly integrate existing exertion connected the market, defence technology, and it is unsocial what you person here. You’re adjacent much precocious than what we presently person successful Germany,” Dudek said.

The helicopter's precocious avionics, which Airbus codeveloped with Israeli companies successful the past 2 years, besides includes an integrated weapons strategy dubbed H-Force which enables the aviator to easy run the helicopters weaponry successful flight, eliminating the request for a abstracted weapons serviceman connected board.

Dudek said different unsocial facet of the Cypriot helicopters is an integrated conflict absorption strategy that enables the craft to run seamlessly with forces connected the crushed arsenic good arsenic different aircraft, including those belonging to the forces of different nations.

Additionally, the helicopter’s physics warfare and different systems spend it a beardown self-protection capability.

Ethnically-divided Cyprus is successful the process of modernizing its antiaircraft capabilities to bring it up to modern European and NATO standards aft years of relying connected chiefly Soviet-era, Russian-made weaponry. The land federation continues to run Russian-made T-80 main conflict tanks, but has precocious sold disconnected 11 Russian-made Mi35 onslaught helicopters to Serbia.

Cyprus was divided successful 1974, erstwhile Turkey invaded pursuing a coup by Athens junta-backed supporters of uniting the land with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independency and maintains much than 35,000 troops successful the island’s bluish third.

The Cypriot defence curate said the chopper acquisition is portion of wider strategical readying for the continuous upgrading of the National Guard, enabling the land to instrumentality portion successful associated subject drills with affable nations.