Mexico Orders 6 EC725 Helicopters

[Judi Lynn]

Mexico Orders 6 EC725 Helicopters
11-Mar-2009 12:29 EDT

Shephard Group reports that Mexico has become the EC725 Cougar’s 2nd export customer, thanks to a Mexican Ministry of Defense order for 6 helicopters. France currently operates 14 specialized variants of the EC725, an updated version of the popular Super Puma military helicopter that currently serves as a Presidential helicopter in Mexico. Brazil became the EC725’s first export customer with a $1.1 billion order for 50 helicopters to equip its Army, Air Force, and Navy.

The medium-lift helicopters will reportedly be used for transport and civil security missions, but these are military helicopters, rather than their civilian EC225 version. The delivery partner will be Eurocopter de Mexico SA (EMSA), which was set up in 1982 to cover the Mexican, Central American, and Caribbean markets, along with Columbia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

Mexico is currently facing a significant “open source” insurgency that has claimed between 6,000 – 8,000 lives over the past 2 years, and is busy beefing up its military capabilities on several fronts in order to cope. UAVs and aerostats, integrated urban surveillance systems, and quick-response transport are all essential counterinsurgency capabilities, if they can be complemented by good intelligence.

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Mexico-Orders-6-EC725-Helicopters-05327/