Schweizer Luftwaffe Cougar upgrade

RUAG will upgrade eight Schweizer Luftwaffe AS532UL helicopters at Emmen, with the work to be completed in 2022.
RUAG

The Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force) will upgrade eight of its Airbus Helicopters (Eurocopter) AS532UL Cougar transport helicopters, under an agreement signed with RUAG on January 9, 2018.

The work will be undertaken by RUAG in Emmen and will include new flight management computers, navigation systems, helmet-mounted displays and a collision avoidance system. The upgrade will also include the Saab IDAS-3 self-defence system and work is expected to be completed by mid-2022.

The Cougars are the survivors of ten helicopters purchased from Eurocopter in 1998 and delivered from 2001. The Schweizer Luftwaffe also operates 15 earlier AS332M-1 Super Pumas, which were delivered from 1987 and modernised by RUAG between 2011 and 2014.