New H225M Caracal helicopters for the RNLAF
On 5 June 2023, the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu, Royal Netherlands Air Force) published their plans to replace their ageing AS532U2 Cougar helicopters with fourteen new Airbus H225M Caracal long-range tactical transport helicopters.
After years of discussing, the H225M Caracal has been selected as the best type for the Netherlands Defence Forces and their changing role. The Caracal is the successor of the family of Puma and Cougar helicopters and is specially designed for Special Forces Operations, a need that the Netherlands Special Forces wanted to have for years. The value of the contract lies between €1,5 and €2 billion.
Since the introduction of the AS532U2 Cougar with the KLu in 1996, the helicopter has been part of 300 Squadron Wildcats. The squadron was once stationed at Soesterberg Air Base, but moved to Gilze-Rijen Air Base in 2008 due to budget cuts that led to the closure of Soesterberg. Since 2008, the squadron is part of the Defence Helicopter Command (DHC) and flew numerous missions in both land and maritime operations.
Due to further budget cuts, the KLu decided to decommission 300 Squadron in 2011. However, this decision was reversed in the same year due to a lack of Search and Rescue (SAR) capacity when the Lynx (Royal Netherlands Navy) and AB412 helicopters (KLu) were withdrawn from active duty and also the introduction of the NHIndustries NH90-NFH within DHC was delayed. So, from 2011 eight AS532U2s were made operational again. This number was later increased with four more Cougars bringing the total number of helicopters to twelve.
300 Squadron will continue operating the Cougar until at least 2030. In the meantime the unit will be reformed to a Special Forces Air Squadron to meet the demand of the Netherlands Defence Forces to boost their Special Forces Air capacity. The new H225M Caracal helicopters are expected to arrive a few years before the Cougars official retirement between 2030 and 2035.
Photo (just illustrative) by Olivier Follea (Scramble Archive)