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The heavy helicopter project takes off

(B2) EU defense ministers on Monday (May 18) gave the green light to the Heavy Transport Helicopter (HTF) project.

This originally Franco-German initiative is now placed under the aegis of the European Defense Agency. It is open to other Member States, and possibly others.

The objective of the FTH project is to provide Europeans with a solution for heavy transport capacity in theaters of operation. A persistent missing gap. This device would weigh 32 to 35 tons, and should enter service by 2020 (or more).

« It is a very important project to find a common European solution in the longer term, perhaps even with the United States. “, underlined Javier Solana, the head of the agency and High Representative. The development costs are indeed quite significant: between 2 and 3 billion euros.

(NGV)

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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