Airbus Helicopters AS532 (Super Puma / Cougar)

History of Airbus Helicopters AS532 (Super Puma / Cougar)

The Super Puma was developed by French Aerospatiale (formerly Sud Aviation) from the successful AS 330 Puma series of medium utility helicopters. The newer Super Puma design is essentially the base Puma with an upgraded avionics package, enlarged airframe, new Makila Turbomeca branded 1,700shp turboshaft engine, air intake assembly, ventral fin structure along the tail boom, Improved nose assembly and composite main rotor blades. Aerospatiale merged with Germany's Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) in 1992 to form Eurocopter since the start of production of the aircraft.

The Super Puma is now sold under the Eurocopter brand label, but retains the "AS" (for Aerospatiale) designation in its model number.

The Super Puma prototype first flew on September 13, 1978. The prototype was designated AS 331. The new design is larger than the Puma, offering more cabin space for more passengers and more fuel for longer range. The nose is equipped with a Honeywell Primus 500 or Bendix/King RDR 1400 series weather radar.

Super Cougar eventually produced short and long models. Early users of the Super Cougar began to dabble in the commercial oil industry, and large helicopters proved popular for transporting workers to and from oil rigs.

The AS 332L was widely produced and used during its operation. These are now replaced by the updated AS 332L2 Super Puma MK II series. Bristow Helicopters has purchased no less than 31 custom AS 332Ls for its offshore oil rig operations in the North Sea. Customisation includes folding cabin seats, life rafts, jettisonable hatches, IFR instruments, de-icing equipment, overhead bins and North Sea related navigation aids.

These are called "tigers" (sometimes called "super tigers").

Indonesian Aerospace Corporation (formerly IPTN) licensed the Super Puma as NAS 332L1, of which at least seven were sold to Iran in a 1996 deal.

Beginning in 1990, the Super Cougar was available in civilian and military versions, the latter under the production designation AS 532 "Puma" (the civilian model still retains its AS 332 designation). The Cougar range now includes the AS 532MC Mk I as a Search and Rescue (SAR) platform (note that the "Mk I" designation was retroactively applied to the previous Super Puma form), the AS 532SC Mk I anti-submarine variant as a short hull, the AS 532U2 Mk II as an unarmed base model, AS 532A2 Mk II as an alternative search and rescue model, AS 532L2 Mk II with an extended fuselage for increased seating and longer main rotor blades, and a simplified AS 532 "Cougar 100" with Fixed landing gear.

The militarized Super Puma/Cougar aircraft can carry a variety of weapons, including a 7.62mm universal door machine gun (on pivot mounts), 7.62mm cannon pods, rocket pods, anti-ship missiles and various types of surface anti-aircraft missiles missile.

The civilian Eurocopter EC 225 and its military variant, the EC 725, are improved versions of the Puma series. The system first flew in November 2000 with a five-blade main rotor assembly.

It also has a larger cabin with an updated Makila 1A4 turboshaft engine with FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control), a larger maximum take-off weight (MTOW) and improved EFIS avionics.

Civil operators of Super Puma (various forms) include Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Germany, Norway, Hong Kong, Iceland, Japan, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Morocco and the United Kingdom. The military operators are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, Greece, Indonesia, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.

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