SAF retires Fennec helicopter fleet

spencer99 SG

SAF retires Fennec helicopter fleet
French-built choppers phased out to make way for more advanced Apache attack helicopters

By David Boey

THE Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has retired its fleet of 20 Fennec light helicopters as it reshapes its fleet to receive more advanced Apache attack choppers.

The Defence Ministry told The Straits Times that the 13-year-old Fennecs have been 'withdrawn from service' and are looking for new owners.

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One could be the Royal New Zealand Air Force, which sent a team here in late January to check out the Fennecs with a view to buying several of the French-made choppers.

Captain John Tucker, defence adviser at the New Zealand High Commission in Singapore, said a decision on the Fennecs should come 'within the next few weeks'.

The Eurocopter Fennec helicopters, named after a small fox-like creature found in Africa, were introduced in 1991. The RSAF bought two types and 10 of each type served with two squadrons based at Sembawang Air Base.

One model is the AS.550A2 light observation helicopter, which was used to train new helicopter pilots. During operations, this Fennec can be armed with a 20mm gun and 70mm rockets, and flown as an aerial scout.

The other was the AS.550C2 light attack helicopter. More powerfully armed than the A2 model, this version can carry up to four TOW-2B wire-guided anti-tank missiles.

New Zealand may buy a mix of A2 and C2 Fennecs as replacements for its ageing Bell 47 Sioux helicopters, which it uses for pilot training, said Capt Tucker.

The firepower of the single-engine Fennecs pales in comparison with the arsenal that the twin-engine United States-made Boeing Apaches take into battle, giving the Singapore Armed Forces more punch.

The RSAF has reshaped its helicopter fleet in recent years as more powerful and more capable choppers, such as the Boeing CH-47SD Chinook, enter service.

Dozens of pilots and ground crew selected to train on Apaches have also gone to the US for training.

Modernisation of the RSAF helicopter fleet has left the air force with many surplus helicopters that are still in good condition.

The Fennecs' retirement follows the withdrawal of 20 Bell UH-1H Hueys, which were refurbished by Singapore Technologies Aerospace and sold to the Philippine Air Force for US$12 million (S$20.2 million).

spencer99 SG

So what are we going to use as a Trainer for Helicopter pilots?

cavsg SG

my source told me that there are no plans to close 124sqn, most likely the fennecs the nz wants are those in storage. there are 19 fennecs and 124 got 10 in operations. dun ask me which 10 of those are a2 and which are c2. anyway the whole article is wrong. if you go to sbab today, the fennecs are still flying and next month there is a pk detachment. 123 was closed down with the arrival of ah-64.

cutebug SG

Does this mean that the AH64D is comming to Sg? Anyone know the date Sg reciving?
From the information I gather, Sg did not but enoght number of hellfire missile. The reason might be Sg and Israel are introducing a new model of enlage spike 2 that can be carry by both countries AH64.

cavsg SG

not sure, maybe, the intro was pushed forward due to 911, what i know is that a second batch is heading for texas soon, whether the current batch there will rotate back i not sure.

ChineseJunk SG

Good question. It's still the LOHs.

Wrong information conveyed to us.

Thanks cavsg, Viper52 and others for highlighting this. I wrote the story without stalking WSAP.... which is something I may have to do from now on if forced to maintain quality control.

Joe Black SG

ChineseJunk, we will be very surprised if RSAF simply dispose all the Fennecs given that it will serve as a superb trainer during peacetime and good LOH during wartime. If we can give it a good roof mounted sight for night observation and armed it with Hellfire II or Spike, then it will be a real force multiplier, backing up the Apaches. I do think that the ground force will never have enuff helos to call for air strikes and an armed Fennec with rockets and 20mm cannon will be a welcome sight, blasting away any soft skinned vehicles, bunkers, and enemy troops concentration area.

cavsg SG

if you read my thread months ago, i already mention it. its bad reporting, you should know that if they sold all of them they must have plans to conduct pilot training on other helicopters rite.
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=68624

eurofighter SG

The Fennecs' retirement follows the withdrawal of 20 Bell UH-1H Hueys, which were refurbished by Singapore Technologies Aerospace and sold to the Philippine Air Force for US$12 million (S$20.2 million).

According to last months's issue of AFM the Hueys going to philipines arent ours. It was reported that the ST Aero sourced them from US Army mothballed examples before modernising them.
May I know which is the truth?
Anyway, I jus saw a huey in the skies this evening.

agsm1 SG

So what are we going to use as a Trainer for Helicopter pilots?

What about the ST-Aero EC-120 or EC-135 that Singapore was marketing and making. Could the RSAF be switching to the EC-120/135 and selling off the Fennec. Anyway, we can always produce a lot of EC-120/135 by ourselves for our own needs should it arise, to fit LOH, LAH, COIN roles?

Viper52 SG

Chill cavsg, this is Singapore, you can't run exposes in newspapers that stray too far from the official line, especially in defence matters. CJ just reported what was told to him, and found out the truth when he dug deeper.

Look at it this way, in CJ, at least ST now has a proper defence correspondent who's interested in the topic, for a change. I've lost count of the number of "defence" articles they used to run that were riddled with amateurish mistakes when they got other reporters to do defence news.

cavsg SG

no lah, i not angry with him. just feel that this kind of silly mistake should not have happen in the 1st place. perhaps he trust the source too much. anyway u got my mail regarding your question?

Viper52 SG

Yup I did, thanks! Let me know if someone can confirm the name painted on the side.

SingaporeMacross SG

eh then if we have no more fennecs or hueys how do we transport troops?

ah san SG

erm we still haf super pumas and chinooks mah Razz

cutebug SG

The baisc tranning of heli might done by a private sch in Aust in future. The advance will be train in Sg using puma. SAF is consider that to save cost and manpower. I think it will a notice in the near future.

cavsg SG

there has been talk for almost 10 years on going to australia, recently the idea was to let commerical companies maintain the fleet like fokker 50 but seems that the idea drop off already and there is no talk now.

SingaporeMacross SG

hmm you see a guard rappel down from a chinook like very funny leh