FOLLOWING PROTRACTED development of major European helicopter programmes such as Merlin, Tiger and NH90, several vital orders have been placed during the past year against strong US competition. The AgustaWestland Merlin began its service with the Royal Air Force that has 22 HC.Mk 3 transports on order, while delivery of the Royal Navy's 44 HM. Mk 1 ASW helicopters was completed during 2002. The first ASW and AEW examples for the Italian navy are being delivered, as are the first SAR variants known as the Comorant, for the Canadian Forces. The EH101 also is in contention to provide the much-delayed replacement for Canada's Sikorsky CH-124A Sea King ASW helicopters, 50 EH101s having been ordered and subsequently cancelled almost a decade ago.

At the beginning of 2002 Denmark and Portugal boosted the EH101 order book to over 80 to make the type one of the few European helicopter designs to have a realistic chance of being built in the US. At Farnborough 2002, AgustaWestland and Lockheed Martin announced a 10-year agreement to target a number of current and future US armed forces requirements. These include a replacement for USAF's combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) HH-60G Pave Hawks, the US Coast Guard long-range SAR helicopters, and even the Presidential fleet of US Marine Corps VH-3D Sea Kings.

Having been prime contractor for the RN Merlin programme, Lockheed Martin is convinced that the EH101 airframe has great potential for the company's entry into the US helicopter market. Marketed as the US101, it would be assembled in the US - Bell, Boeing and Kaman topping the potential subcontractor list - and be offered with either General Electric CT7-8 or Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 turboshaft engines.

Another European late developer is the multinational NH90 that ended the year with 650 on order or option in three versions, ASW, SAR and army tactical transport. A big boost was the type's selection for Nordic Standard Helicopter Programme (NSHP) comprising Norway, Sweden and Finland, the only exception being Denmark that broke ranks to order the EH101. The NSHP also saw Saab diversifying into helicopter manufacture for the first time. Saab will produce 200 NH90 forward fuselages and also develop and produce a new advanced tactical mission system (TMS). Delivery of NSHP NH90s will commence in 2005.

The NH90 is another European design that has caught the attention of a US manufacturer, Boeing having negotiated a co-operative deal with EADS to offer the NH90 for similar US military requirements to those where the US101 is being pitched. EADS, in return, will be marketing the CH-47 to France and Germany. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are hoping their European deals will put them into good positions to pick up the pieces should the troubled V-22 tiltrotor programme be curtailed or cancelled.

Although EADS has an interest in the NH Industries consortium, its military flagship remains the Tiger attack helicopter. Firm orders from the lead customers have been slow in coming, only 80 of France's requirement for 215 Tigres and the same number of Germany's requirement for 212 Tigers have been confirmed to date. However, a Franco-German training school (EFA) for future Tiger pilots is scheduled to open at Le Luc in the south of France in July.

In the meantime, the type's first export order, 22 Tiger fire-support helicopters for Australian Army Aviation, is to begin delivery early in 2004 while Eurocopter is hopeful of getting a share of the Spanish Army Air Arm's replacement order for its BO 105s, although it faces strong competition from the Apache. Developments of Eurocopter's Dauphin and Super Puma families continue to attract several low-volume orders. The latter's latest variant, the AS532 Cougar is being delivered to the Brazilain army and has been adopted by the Turkish and French air forces as a CSAR platform while 10 of the extended-range EC725 Cougar Mk 2 were ordered at the end of last year for French special forces.

There were few new orders for the AS565 Panther during 2002 although the type remains in production under licence in China as the Harbin Z-9. Following Eurocopter's long-term relationship with China - the Super Frelon, Gazelle, Super Puma and Ecureuil have been built under licence or supplied to the Chinese armed forces - the French company is actively involved in the development of a new Chinese medium helicopter (CMH) and attack helicopter (ATH).

In 1999, Eurocopter signed a $75m agreement with the China Aviation Industry group AVIC II to develop a new common rotor system for both types. A year later Agusta was awarded a $30m contract to develop the transmission for AVIC II helicopters. The projected first flight of the CMH, that in essence is the new Bell/Agusta A139, is early 2006. The ATH Z-10 that at present resembles a cross between the Tiger and A129 Mangusta, should fly by 2010.

The last 15 of 60 Mangustas ordered by Italy's Air Cavalry were uprated to A129CBT International standard with a five-bladed rotor and nose-mounted 20mm cannon turret. The type has not attracted any export orders to date and the company's only recent major military contract is for 30 A109s for the South African Air Force, the first of which flew in September 2002.

Agusta has sold eight A109Es to China for use with paramilitary law-enforcement agencies with a provision to licence-manufacture the helicopter if sales increase. A 12/14-seat development of A109, the AB319, has been selected as the US Coast Guard's future vertical take-off and landing recovery and surveillance (VRS) aircraft and will be assembled by Bell in Texas for delivery in 2012. Westland, Agusta's UK partner, continues to offer uprated versions of its 30-year old Lynx, the latest being the Super Lynx 300. Powered by 1,200kW LHTEC CTS800-4N turboshaft engines, a glass cockpit and 360- degree radar with FLIR, the Super Lynx is in production for the Royal Air Force of Oman that ordered 16 multirole variants, plus six for the Royal Malaysian Navy and two for the Thai navy.

Westland considers that there are more potential markets in Asia for the Super Lynx as well as in the middle east and South America, but that its best opportunity for a major breakthrough may be as a replacement for its British Army and Royal Navy predecessors. To compete for the UK MoD's programme for a new aircraft for RN frigates and destroyers, the surface combatant maritime rotorcraft (SCMR) programme, and the Army's battlefield light utility helicopter (BLUH), Westland has signed a collaborative agreement with Thales Avionics.

The French company will be responsible for the design, development and integration of navigation and homing systems, secure communications control and avionics management systems. A contract worth £10m has been awarded by the Defence Procurement Agency's (DPA) Lynx integrated project team (IPT) to assess suitability of the Future Lynx for the Royal Navy. The study is running in parallel with an earlier study that looked into the use of the helicopter for the Army. If the Super Lynx 300 is selected for a common platform to meet the needs of both services, the two programmes could be worth up to £1.5bn. A decision is expected before the end of the year.