All Tiger reconnaissance and attack helicopters will be withdrawn from active service by 2038, and replaced by an Airbus H145M version fitted with anti-tank missiles.
As we announced in March, the German Defense Ministry was considering retiring all 51 Tiger anti-tank helicopters, as their availability is extremely low and only a handful of them are in operational condition.
The German government’s decision to get rid of its Tiger aircraft comes as no surprise, as complaints about their low operational readiness rate have been recurring for years, and for the same reason, it decided to withdraw from the Tiger Mk III modernization program, leaving France and Spain alone to carry it forward. According to Berlin, the modernization program carried too many risks in terms of costs and lead times to participate in it.
It is also worth remembering that Australia, another dissatisfied Tiger user, decided to withdraw them early from service and replace them with the Apache, whose operational record is much more successful.
Tiger Mk III Modernization
The Tiger Mk III is a proposed comprehensive upgrade of the European attack helicopter systems, focusing on digitalization, interconnectivity, and the generation and distribution of battlefield information.
It would also integrate new armaments and incorporate the capacity to control the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles. But also, it was to provide solutions to the recurrent technical problems afflicting the aircraft, improving its availability and lowering its operating costs.
Although the other two partners in the program (France and Spain) had planned to go ahead with the Mk III upgrade, French sources suggest that the modernization plan has been frozen, as funds have not yet been earmarked for the start of its execution.
See also: A modernized Tiger: France and Spain launch Tiger MkIII program
H145M, a cost-effective solution
Although the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces) is skeptical about the H145M’s ability to adequately replace the Tiger, the Ministry of Defense seems to be convinced that it is a good near-term solution, and will submit its proposal to the all-powerful Parliamentary Budget Committee for approval by the end of the year.
Do attack helicopters have a future?
But beyond the German «anti-tank» H145M, the role of the armed reconnaissance and attack helicopter, as we know it today, is in question. The lessons of the War in Ukraine showed the great vulnerability of these vehicles in the face of a moderately well-equipped low-level air defense. Many military academies are beginning to suggest that the era of the reign of the attack helicopter over the battlefield has come to an end, and that this role will be taken over by different types of armed drones or marauding munitions.
Will the H145M be the last German helicopter tank destroyer?
