Eurocopter and ATE team up on Stand-alone Weapon System for Helicopters

Eurocopter and French airborne systems integrator, ATE, have teamed up to design, develop, manufacture and sustain a modern, Stand-Alone Weapon System (SAWS) for any of Eurocopter's light and medium helicopter products.

This modular system is exhibited with an AS550 Fennec light military helicopter on Eurocopter's static display at the Paris Air Show.

The Eurocopter-ATE SAWS solution addresses increased market demand for helicopters incorporating a weapon system able to match evolving mission scenarios in current and future conflicts.

Eurocopter has proven capabilities in producing multi-role military platforms meeting operational requirements by armed forces worldwide. Similarly, ATE has unmatched expertise in weapon system development and subsystems integration on fixed- and rotary- wing aircraft.

The SAWS enables a range of missions, eg.:

-Surveillance and armed reconnaissance

-Airborne Command and Control

-Close Air Support

-Maritime patrol, littoral warfare, eg. anti piracy and Coast Guard

-Potential for light ASuW and ASW

The SAWS is composed of

- a core part including:

o a mission and firing control computer

o controls and components to interface the crew and the platform

- a choice of sensors: FLIR, TV, HUD, HMSD...

- a choice of guided weapons (Ingwe and others) providing the necessary flexibility for a given mission

- a choice of unguided weapons