Aérospatiale AS 332
Aérospatiale AS 332 "Super Puma" / "Cougar" | |
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Type: | Medium-weight transport helicopter |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
First flight: |
September 13, 1978 |
The Aérospatiale AS 332 is a helicopter from the French manufacturer Aérospatiale , later Eurocopter and now Airbus Helicopters . The AS 332 is used both civilly with the nickname "Super Puma" and militarily as "Cougar" . It is based on the Aérospatiale SA 330 , but is an enlarged design whose first flight took place on September 13, 1978.
The latest civil version is the EC 225 , it is equipped with a folding five-bladed main rotor instead of a four-bladed one and has a higher take -off weight . There is also a military version of this version, the EC 725 Cougar .
use
The machine became a great economic success for the manufacturer. A total of 37 armed forces were equipped with the type, and it is also used by around 1,000 civilian operators; mainly used there for oil production near the coast or on the open sea (English offshore ). It is sold in the military version as the Eurocopter "Cougar" .
The EC725 is the first military Eurocopter that has been equipped as a CSAR helicopter for rescue flights in combat zones since 1990 ; this version was introduced in France as the Caracal .
Germany
In Germany, the civilian version “Super Puma” (Puma AS 332 L1) was purchased for the Federal Border Police and is still in use today by its successor organization - the Federal Police . The military version "Cougar" is used by the Ministry of Defense's flight readiness . In both cases, these helicopters are primarily used to transport members of the constitutional organs , but they are also used in search and rescue services , in disaster control and for humanitarian aid .
Switzerland
The Swiss Air Force has 15 Aérospatiale AS 332 M1 Super Puma (transport helicopters 89/06 with registrations T-311 to T-325) and 10 (after the loss of T-341 on March 30, 2011 in Maderanertal and the loss of T-338 on September 28, 2016 at Gotthard Hospice) Eurocopter AS 532 UL Cougar Mk1 (transport helicopter 98 with registrations T-331 to T-342, the T-331 as a VIP version).
Versions
Standard models with 1130 kW Makila -1A turbines:
- AS 332B: Army version
- AS 332F: Marine version with folding tail boom
- AS 332C: civil version
Versions extended by 76 cm:
- AS 332M: military version
- AS 332L: civil version
Versions equipped with Makila 1A1 turbines with an output of 1185 kW:
- AS 532L "Cougar": military version
- AS 532SC "Cougar": marine version
- AS 332L1 "Super Puma": civil version
- AS 332C1e: Cargo helicopter with improved operating and maintenance costs
- AS 332L1e: SAR and VIP helicopters with improved operating and maintenance costs
- AS 532AL +: Military version with improved operating and maintenance costs
Versions equipped with 1236 kW Makila 1A2 turbines:
- AS 532U2 "Cougar": military version
- AS 332L2 "Super Puma": civil version
- AS 532AL "Cougar": military version
Technical specifications
Parameter | Data AS 332L1 |
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crew | 1-2 |
Passengers | up to 24 or 29 soldiers (version Mk2 +) |
Maximum payload | 4140 kg |
length | 16.29 m |
Rotor diameter | 15.6 m |
height | 4.60 m |
Empty weight | 4510 kg |
Maximum takeoff weight | 8600 kg, with external load 9350 kg |
drive | 2 × Turboméca Makila 1A1 shaft turbines, each with 1357 kW starting power and 1185 kW continuous power |
Top speed | 278 km / h |
Maximum cruising speed | 262 km / h |
Range | 841 km |
Service ceiling | 2895 m (altitude) |
Hover altitude | 3250 m (with ground effect ) |
Armament
Movable armament installed in the door
- 2 × 7.62 mm machine guns Fabrique Nationale FN-MAG-58 on ball joint mounts with 100 rounds of ammunition each
- 1 x 20 mm automatic cannon Nexter system 20M621 on SH20-carriage 100 rounds of ammunition
Air-to-surface guided missile ( anti-ship missile )
- 2 × MBDA AM-39 "Exocet" - radar-controlled
- 2 × Euromissile AS.15TT - wire-controlled
Unguided air-to-surface missiles
- 2 × Matra Type 156 rocket tube launch containers for 19 × unguided air-to-ground missiles SNEB ; Caliber 68 mm
- 2 × Thales Brandt rocket tube launchers for 19 × unguided TDA air-to-ground missiles; Caliber 68 mm
- 2 × Forges de Zeebrugge M159 rocket tube launch container for 19 × unguided TDA air-to-surface missiles; Caliber 68 mm
External container
- 2 × machine canon container POD NC 621, each with a 20 mm automatic cannon Nexter 20M621 with 180 rounds of ammunition
Self-protection systems
- 4 × radar warning sensor (RWR) Dassault Electronique EWR-99 FRUIT
- 4 × laser warning sensor (LWR)
- 4 × guided missile proximity warning sensor (MAW)
- 2 × decoys launcher Alkan ELIPS
Incidents
- On January 19, 1995, a Eurocopter AS 332L deployed on Bristow Flight 56C was supposed to transport 16 employees to the Brae Alpha oil platform . The machine was struck by lightning over the North Sea and then had to make an emergency landing. All 18 occupants survived the accident.
- On August 16, 17 Spanish soldiers died in the crash of a Eurocopter AS 532UL Cougar belonging to the Spanish Army Aviation (HU.21L-57) . The helicopter was in Afghanistan as part of the ISAF protection force and crashed in the morning near Herat while it was being shot at with anti-aircraft fire from a nearby village. Another Spanish helicopter of the same type (HU.21L-59) had to make an emergency landing in the vicinity after being shot at, with 5 injured. The machine was also destroyed.
- On April 1, 2009, a Super Puma AS 332L2 crashed into the North Sea on its return flight from the Miller oil platform 60 kilometers northeast of Aberdeen - around 25 kilometers east of Peterhead . All 16 inmates were killed.
- On July 25, 2012, an AS532 Cougar military helicopter crashed into the Verdon Gorge in southern France during a test and control flight before delivery , killing all six Eurocopter employees.
- On March 21, 2013, during an exercise at the Olympiastadion Berlin , a Eurocopter AS 332L1 of the Federal Police collided with a Eurocopter EC 155 B that had already landed. The pilot of the EC 155 B was killed and four people were seriously injured.
- On August 23, 2013, four inmates were killed in the crash of a Super Puma AS 332L2 when the machine crashed into the sea on its flight from the North Sea drilling platform Borgsten Dolphin to Sumburgh Airport on the Shetland Islands .
- On April 29, 2016, all 13 people on board were killed in a crash in Norway . The crash happened on the return flight from an oil platform to the coast. The European Aviation Safety Agency then ordered an inspection of the machines and issued a provisional flight ban for the types AS332 L2 and H225 LP on June 2, 2016 . With regard to the crash in Norway, new, strict maintenance rules have been in effect since August 2017 for similar aircraft of the Air Force readiness to fly , which make normal flight operations and thus the use as "government helicopters" impossible.
- On September 28, 2016, when a Super Puma of the Swiss Air Force crashed on the Gotthard Pass, the two pilots were killed and a flight attendant was injured.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Jürgen Schmidt: We wear the eagle of the federal government on the rock - Chronicle of the Federal Border Police 1951-1971. Fiedler-Verlag, Coburg 1995, ISBN 3-923434-17-0 , p. 61.
- ↑ Swiss Air Force website ( Memento from October 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ accident report AS532 Cougar HU.21L-57 , Aviation Safety Network WikiBase (English), accessed on February 17 2020th
- ↑ accident report AS532 Cougar HU.21L-59 , Aviation Safety Network WikiBase (English), accessed on February 17 2020th
- ↑ Helicopter crash: Presumably all 16 helicopter occupants dead. Der Spiegel , April 2, 2009, accessed on August 28, 2013 .
- Jump up ↑ Aviation - Scotland mourns dead helicopter occupants. Focus , April 1, 2009, accessed August 28, 2013 .
- ↑ Divers recover last of helicopter victims. The Scotsman , April 6, 2009, accessed August 28, 2013 .
- ↑ Gerhard Hegmann: Six Eurocopter employees die on test flight. ftd.de, July 25, 2012, archived from the original on July 27, 2012 ; Retrieved August 6, 2012 .
- ^ BFU: Investigation report. Retrieved October 30, 2014 .
- ↑ Shetland Islands - Several dead in helicopter crash. Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 25, 2013, accessed on August 28, 2013 .
- ↑ Oil rig shuttle over the North Sea: helicopter crashes into the sea - four dead. Der Spiegel , August 24, 2013, accessed on August 28, 2013 .
- ↑ Airbus' "Super Pumas" have to go to the security check. In: orf.at . May 4, 2016, accessed June 3, 2016 .
- ^ EASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive. European Aviation Safety Agency , May 3, 2016, accessed May 4, 2016 .
- ↑ Update regarding the crash of a Norwegian Helicopter on April 29, 2016. European Aviation Safety Agency , June 2, 2016, accessed June 2, 2016 .
- ↑ Air Force on the ground . In: Der Spiegel . No. 33 , 2017 ( online ).
- ↑ Two dead in an army helicopter crash in Switzerland. In: Spiegel Online. September 28, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016 .