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Eurocopter Puma

SA 330 Puma
A Royal Air Force Puma helicopter over the English countryside.jpg
A RAF HC1 Puma in flight, 2012
Role Utility helicopter
National origin France
Manufacturer Sud Aviation
Aérospatiale
First flight 15 April 1965
Introduction 1968
Status In service
Primary users French Army
Royal Air Force
Romanian Air Force
Lebanese Air Force
Produced 1968–87
Number built 697
Variants IAR 330
Developed into Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma
Eurocopter AS532 Cougar
Denel Rooivalk
Atlas Oryx
External video
French Army Puma during an exercise
In-cockpit view of a SA 330J flight
Spanish Air Force SA 330 Puma performing at an airshow in 2011
External image
SA 330 Puma cutaway
SA 330 Puma cutaway from Flightglobal.com

The Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma is a four-bladed, twin-engined medium transport/utility helicopter. The Puma was originally built by Sud Aviation of France, and continued to be made by Aérospatiale. It was also license-built in Romania as the IAR 330; two advanced, unlicensed derivatives, the Denel Rooivalk and Atlas Oryx, were made in South Africa. The Puma was a commercial success and was quickly developed into more advanced models such as the AS332 Super Puma and AS532 Cougar, manufactured by Eurocopter since the early 1990s. These descendants of the Puma remain in production in the 21st century.

The Puma has seen combat in a range of theatres by a number of different operators; significant operations include the Gulf War, the South African Border War, the Portuguese Colonial War, the Yugoslav Wars, the Lebanese Civil War, the Iraq War, and the Falklands War. The type also saw popular use in the civilian field and has been operated by a number of civil operators.

The SA 330 Puma was originally developed by Sud Aviation to meet a requirement of the French Army for a medium-sized all-weather helicopter capable of carrying up to 20 soldiers as well as various cargo-carrying duties. The choice was made to develop a completely new design for the helicopter, work began in 1963 with backing from the French government. The first of two Puma prototypes flew on 15 April 1965; six further pre-production models were also built, the last of which flew on 30 July 1968. The first production SA 330 Puma flew in September 1968, with deliveries to the French Army starting in early 1969.


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