During and immediately following CANSEC 2026 in late May, Airbus demonstrated the ability of the H145M and H175M for all three phases on nTACS, including for the special operations forces. Leonardo, too, would likely propose one or both of its AW249 and AW149 platforms if an open competition were held.
During a recent media briefing in France, Airbus Helicopters said its H175M could be manufactured in Canada if it was selected for nTACS.
“We think we have the perfect products to [replace the Griffon], and we have the capacity in Airbus — and with the supply chain, the aerospace capability in Canada — to do major developments in Canada,” Matthieu Louvot, president and CEO of Airbus Helicopters, told journalists.
Maybe a better way to approach it is in the current trench/drone warfare meta, would we independently arrive at an attack/support helicopter as a solution in that environment? I have no horse in this race either way, but i’ve been a part of waaaaay too many dumb comittees and engineering meetings where people are arguing over trivial things based on bad design requirements because the goals changed, and nobody checked if the requirements should too…