Qatar has received its first Airbus Helicopter H125 training platforms, national media and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have revealed.
A Qatari TV news screenshot showing one of at least two Airbus Helicopters H125 training platforms to have arrived in-country. (Al-Rayyan)
At least two helicopters were seen on static display in footage aired by Al-Rayyan news and in an official MoD image of a graduation ceremony at the College of Al Zaeem Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Attiyah.
The footage and image, both released on 23 January, show the helicopters painted in the livery of the college at Al Udeid Air Base, which is also known as the Qatar Armed Forces Air Academy.
Airbus Helicopters announced the sale of 16 H125s to Qatar at the DIMDEX defence exhibition that took place in Doha in March 2018. A Qatari source told Jane’s that the helicopters displayed at the academy are not from this order but have instead been leased from a private company so that pilot training can start as soon as possible. Neither Airbus nor the Qatari MoD have disclosed the delivery timeline for the 16 helicopters that have been procured, but Jane’s understands the first will arrive in-country in mid-2020.
Destined to replace the secondary training role of the Aerospatiale SA 342L Gazelle that has been in service since 1983, the H125 has been procured as part of a wider deal that also includes 28 NHIndustries NH90 helicopters.
Footage of the graduation parade shows the H125s to be painted in the livery of the Qatar Armed Forces Air Academy. (Al-Rayyan)
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