More Tiger combat helos for France

PARIS, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- The French military has ordered seven additional Tiger combat helicopters, which will bring their fleet of the aircraft to 67.

The order, which is to strengthen the capability of French forces in air-land operations, was made to Airbus Helicopters by the French Directorate General of Armaments, or DGA, through the European Union's Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation.

The Tiger, similar to Boeing's AH-64 Apache, was originally manufactured by Eurocopter, which is now part of Airbus. It has a maximum speed of more than 181 miles per hour and a range of 500 miles.

The French Tiger is available in a fire-support/protection variant, with the acronym of HAP, armed with air-to-air missiles, a 30mm cannon and 68mm rockets, and a support/destruction variant, HAD, which, in addition to the equipment of the HAP, can also carry air-to-ground missiles.

The seven helicopters ordered are HAD variants.

To date, 55 Tigers have been delivered to the French Army, including 40 HAP variants. The new aircraft ordered will be delivered in 2017-2018.