Tiger
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Key facts
- Type
- Attack helicopter Anti-tank helicopter
- National origin
- Multinational
- Manufacturer
- Eurocopter , Airbus Helicopters
- Status
- In service
- Primary users
- French Army German Army Australian Army Spanish Army
- Number built
- 175 as of April 2026
- Manufactured
- 1991–present
- First flight
- 27 April 1991
- Retired
- By Australia, see § Operators , To be retired by Germany
- Variant
- See § Variants
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
The Eurocopter EC665 Tiger (now Airbus) is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), which arose from the merger of Aérospatiale's and DASA's respective helicopter divisions. Airbus Helicopters designates it as the EC665. In France and Spain, the helicopter is known as the Tigre (which is French and Spanish for Tiger), while in Germany and Australia it is referred to as the Tiger. An earlier name for the French HAP close air support (CAS) version was Gerfaut ("Gyrfalcon"), which was dropped in 1993.
Development of the Tiger started during the Cold War, and it was initially intended as an anti-tank helicopter platform to be used against a Soviet ground invasion of Western Europe. During its prolonged development period the Soviet Union collapsed, changing the European security situation. France and Germany chose to proceed with the Tiger, developing it instead as a multirole attack helicopter. It achieved operational readiness in 2008.