Germany’s Annual Armaments Report – which was published on January 31 – confirmed that Berlin is now bringing forward the planned retirement date for its Tiger UHT attack helicopters by six years from 2038 to 2032.
In May 2023, Reuters cited a Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) spokesperson as saying that the helicopters would be retired in 2038. The Heeresflieger (German Army Aviation) will now begin phasing out its Tiger fleet in 2031, after opting out of the Mk III modernisation programme. The upgrade centred on providing collaborative combat capabilities, with a new battlefield management system, manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capabilities and the ability to share information with frontline armoured fighting vehicles.
Germany concluded that the planned upgrade would be “highly risky”, citing the low availability of its 51-strong Tiger UHT fleet. Now, the Mk III programme will see the upgrade of 42 aircraft for France (of 80 delivered) and all of Spain’s 18 Tiger gunships. The Heeresflieger took delivery of 68 Tiger UHTs (of 80 originally ordered), but 11 early examples were repurchased by Airbus. Approximately 50 Tigers remain operational with the Kampfhubscrauberregiment 36 (KpfHubschrRgt 36; 36th Combat Helicopter Regiment) at Fritzlar Air Base.
Some 13 Tigers were upgraded to the Afghanistan Stabilization German Army Rapid Deployment (ASGARD) standard between 2011 and 2014, and 11 more are to be retrofitted to the same standard, with uprated engines for improved hot-and-high performance, sand filters, additional defensive armament, a mission data recorder, and enhanced communications equipment.
By 2028, the Tiger UHT fleet will have been reduced to 33 helicopters, at least 24 of which will be in the ASGARD configuration. It is understood that they will be replaced by H145M light attack helicopters.
