Eurocopter AS532 Cougar
The military Super Puma, renamed Cougar in 1990: troop transport, armed, naval and SAR versions · First flight 1978 · Cougar name from 1990
Military Super Pumas first flew alongside the civil ones and were delivered as AS332 B, F and M variants from the early 1980s. In 1990 all military designations changed from AS332 to AS532 Cougar to separate them from the civil line. The long-fuselage AS532 UL (unarmed) and AL (armed) carry up to 29 troops or six stretchers; the AL can mount 20 mm cannon pods, 68 mm rocket launchers and door guns. The naval AS532 SC adds anti-ship Exocet missiles or dipping sonar and torpedoes for anti-submarine work.
Swiss Cougars, designated TH98, joined the earlier TH89 Super Pumas, and the French Army began an obsolescence upgrade of 23 of its Cougars in 2012 to bring their avionics closer to the EC725. Other operators include the Netherlands, Turkey, Spain, Chile, Bulgaria, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, and the Cougar line led directly to the EC725 Caracal.
Slovenia operates four AS532 Cougars, used for troop transport, rescue and especially aerial firefighting with underslung water buckets. The type is now marketed by Airbus Helicopters as the H215M.
