Airbus Helicopters SA 330 Puma

History of Airbus Helicopters SA 330 Puma

The Puma was launched as a Southern Air product to meet the French Army's need for an all-weather, medium-lift utility helicopter to replace the aging Sikorsky S-58 system in service in France. Additional requirements call for operation in day or night environments, and this type of potential operation covers nearly every region of the world.

Although originally designed and produced under the banner of Sud Aviation (hence the "SA" in the model name), ownership of the helicopter changed hands when Sud merged with SEREB and Nord Aviation became Aerospatiale.

Two prototypes were named Alouette V (SA 330A), the first took off from Marignane on 15 April 1965. These designs are based on the Super Frelon helicopter, although the SA 330 has been thoroughly modernized down to the construction method used. The prototype was followed by six pre-production aircraft, which were evaluated in mid-1968.

The design turned out to be robust, showed good speed and agility, and proved robust for this type of complex system. Production of this prototype, now named SA 330B "Puma", officially began in September this year, with a total of 697 prototypes produced.

The Puma officially entered service in 1970. From Albania to Zaire, Pumas is in service with no less than 40 air forces and militaries worldwide, making it one of the most successful helicopter designs of all time.

Like most multi-role helicopter systems, the Puma's armament is optional, mission-specific and operator-specific. 7. 62mm machine gun is standard, 20mm machine gun is also used. The use of external cargo hooks for carrying suspended cargo has been specified in the cargo transport role.

The famous version of the mass-produced Puma was the first SA 330B mass-produced model of the French Army, the first export SA 330C model and the first civilian SA 330F mass-produced export model. Others include the SA 330E produced by Westland for the Royal Air Force, the SA 330H improved for the French Army, and the SA 330Z prototype with a ducted Fenestron tail rotor. South African company Atlas Aircraft Corporation produces a similar Oryx locally for their air force, while Indonesia's IPTN does the same with their NAS 330J. Westland joins the fray, offering Puma HC. Mk 1 for the RAF, based on the SA 330E series.

Romania is another foreign manufacturer of this type and makes it under the guise of an IAR 330 made by ICA.

Notable Puma operators include the Royal Air Force, South Africa and Lebanon. Civilian operators are located in the US, South Africa and Germany.

In the Aerospatiale range, the Puma was replaced by the greatly improved AS332 "Super Puma", this time under the banner of the Eurocopter product, but also keeping the "AS" (for Aerospatiale) in the model name.

Specification

Basic

Production

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Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes