HForce

Drawing on experience with the Tiger attack helicopter, Airbus developed an off-the-shelf solution to address a large scope of customers’ armament needs.

Designed as a modular and incremental system, HForce offers a multi-purpose mission computer that is interchangeable from one helicopter to another, along with a large choice of weapons (air-to-air, air-to-ground, ballistic and guided) to comply with any operational needs. This technically advanced solution takes into account the different aspects of firing accuracy: weapon recoil, the center-of-gravity, ground clearance and vehicle separation.

HForce is composed of:

One central core unit for firing computation
Monocular helmet-mounted sight and display
(HMSD) for pilot and gunner targeting and ballistic firing
Electro-optical system (EOS) for target identification and firing
Armament grips for armament management
Weapons pods with the following armament: 
Ballistic: machine gun, cannon, rocket
Guided: laser-guided rockets, air-to-ground missile, air-to-air missile (with growth potential)

Addressing today’s requirements for many types of operations, HForce equips helicopters for a wide range of mission.

Armed scout

Intelligence
Surveillance
Reconnaissance
Attack
Deep operations (depending on helicopter type)
Fire support
Attack
Escort
Utility

Air movement
Combat recovery
Casualty evacuation (casevac)
Fire support
Maritime security:

Maritime counter-terrorism
Parapublic:

Law enforcement

Aircraft retrofitted with the basic “Fitted for, but not with” capability (Option 0) can become potential light attack helicopters, ready for weapons installation at any time.

With HForce, multi-purpose helicopters are equipped with a kit of weapons fully adaptable for light attack missions. For armed forces, it is a combat-ready alternative to attack-specialised helicopters.

Furthermore, defence agencies gain more flexibility in the management of stocks and use of weapons thanks to this fully interchangeable equipment system.