The Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and French based company Eurocopter today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation and exchange of information in the lead up to delivery to the Australian Army of the Armed Reconnaissance (ARH Tiger) Helicopter.
Chief Defence Scientist, Dr Ian Chessell, signed the MOU. The ARH Tiger Project Director, Marc Jouan, represented Eurocopter during a simple ceremony at DSTO Headquarters in Canberra.
Dr Chessell said with the on-going acquisition of the Eurocopter Tiger, DSTO is now focussing on various technology aspects of the capability in order to help the introduction into service and to advise Army of future capability options.
DSTO's Land Operations Division (LOD) is playing a leading role in the evaluation of the capability through systems experimentation in the Synthetic Environment Research Facility (SERF).
Mr Jouan said during the early stages of the AIR 87 Project tender, and with the full support of the French Ministry of Defense, Eurocopter proposed the options to extend collaboration with DSTO for Co-operative Research Programs with a number of projects of interest to all parties. DSTO has expressed interest and enthusiasm to pursue the options.
He said all projects under consideration relate directly to Tiger helicopter trends, both technical and operational, and are principally focused on the context of operating efficiencies and future upgrade.
"By signing the MOU today, we can now commence the job of launching potential collaborative projects and move forward to the actual Research and Development tasks."
"This enhancement of our existing collaborative arrangements sets the stage for mutually beneficial Research relationships over the long term between Eurocopter, with its subsidiary Australian Aerospace, and Australian Defence."
