GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

The importance of rotorcraft in military operations is widely recognised as one of the most important VTOL assets/systems. Military rotorcraft act like workhorses of the battlefield, performing a variety of missions such as armed reconnaissance, strike, combat, combat and ordinary search-and-rescue (SAR), MEDical EVACuation (MEDEVAC), CASualty EVACuation (CASEVAC), utility, air assault and close aerial support, all of which are critical to the success of military operations.

After decades of European involvement in counter-insurgency type of operations, recent conflicts have marked the return of high-intensity confrontations very close to European Union territory, recalling that although military helicopters are key assets, they require careful mission planning and operations to be efficient and survivable.

On the longer term, rotorcraft is foreseen to be even more critical as future combat theatres are likely to take place in congested urban environment, mostly in littoral regions, and to involve a wide range of long-range strike capabilities (artillery, short range ballistic missiles) combined with a shortened OODA loop made possible by the massive global deployment of networked C4ISR assets.

Current capability forecast assessments at European and NATO levels show that the helicopter fleets will have to be renewed as of 2035-2040. The main objective is therefore to provide the EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries with a European solution that meets the European market and military needs in the field of rotorcraft.

Proposals must address future technologies and rotorcraft architectures with a view to the launch of a new European collaborative capability development programme in the field of next generation rotorcraft by 2030.