The Puma: past, present, and future in the French armies.

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Puma helicopter
Armée de terre puma

Puma helicopter

Armed Forces rely heavily on air support, most notably on helicopters. They allow a clear
360-degree view of the battlefield, guiding troops and ensuring they can efficiently deliver
themselves or their equipment where it matters most.

The French armed forces have many different helicopters in their arsenal responding to the
various needs of their operations. Today, we will look at one of the most noteworthy
helicopters in their fleet: the Puma.

The Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma is a strategic lift helicopter operated by the Armée de l’air et
de l’Espace (The French Air and Space Force) and the Armee de Terre (The French Army).
The French Air Force mainly uses helicopters as search and rescue aircraft today. We spoke
to a squadron leader based in Corsica who decided not to be named for national security
reasons. Here’s what he had to say about the helicopter’s role in the force.

“Pumas have loads of missions in our Force, but the most important one is rescue; we help
groups when needed and provide swift airlift on the battlefield.”

“We also help civilians see France doesn’t have coastguards, so when a ship gets into
trouble, we can extract its crew if they are in French waters.”

“We also bring troops from Gendarmerie, as well as police forces, to locations where they
need to intervene quickly.”

As mentioned earlier, the Puma is also used in the French Army (Armée de Terre). To
understand the helicopter’s role, we spoke to Colonel Journot, the squadron leader based in
the Paris suburbs. He explained that it has a mission profile similar to that of its counterparts
in the Air Force.

The only notable difference is that they are not used for search and rescue but as a purely
tactical tool. They will bring the troops as close as possible to the action—with some of the
fleets even used in counterterrorism (though these specific helicopters are used both by the
AAE and AT).

However, the General Staff is slowly replacing the helicopters in both forces. In the case of
the Air Force, it will be replaced mainly with an H225 helicopter (a heavily modernized
Puma); it’s due to take over by 2026.

For the Army, the Puma is being replaced by the NHIndustries NH90 Caïman helicopter and
will work alongside the Couger (Aerospatiale Super Puma)

By the time the last SA 330 leaves the fleet, it would have served 60 years in the various
Forces, making it one of their longest operating helicopters.