Development of the Gazelle began in 1966, after the French Army issued a set of requirements for a new helicopter to replace the Alouette II. Sud-Aviation (later Aérospatiale) began working on the project immediately and came up with a prototype within a year. The prototype, designated SA.340, conducted its maiden flight in April 1967 with success.
Further development of the helicopter continued, with the subsequent model - the SA.341 - receiving several improvements. Among them was the replacement of the conventional tail rotor with a fenestron tail, which integrated the tail rotor into the tail section. At this stage of development, the British Westland Helicopters company also became involved as the work turned into a joint project between the two companies, following an agreement signed in 1967.
Production of the SA.341 began in the late 1960s, with slightly differing models being produced for French and British armed forces. The first models entered service in the early 1970s. The helicopter would prove itself to be quite a success, which prompted further development to be pursued.
Further development of the Gazelle eventually resulted in the creation of the SA.342 - a more powerful modification fitted with an uprated engine. This modification also turned the Gazelle into a light tank hunter, being able to be fitted with HOT ATGMs.
The Gazelle also turned out be just as much of a success on the export market as it was with its initial operators. The helicopter type was widely exported to countries around the world and was even produced under licence by Egypt and Yugoslavia.
Although the Gazelle has long been replaced by newer helicopters, such as the Eurocopter Tiger for example, the type is still in active service with numerous nations today, including Great Britain and France. In total, over 1,750 Gazelles have been manufactured by 1996, taking into account all variants. These vehicles have been involved in many fighting conflicts, and are now used in Syria for Syrian army operations.
Comments (194)
Great, another helicopter that'll kill me from 10 km away while I can do nothing about it. Thanks gaijin, very cool.
Not how it's gonna work in the next update. There will be more news on this soon, so keep an eye out on that.
All answers (10)CokeSpray, SAM!??!
UwU Hello man
SlovenianWasp, OwO hello sexy
That's awesome i hope we get a new modern MBT for french maybe tier 7 :) Leclerc proto? or the normal maybe?
The Leclerc won't be in update 1.87. The major addition for France this update is their Helicopter branch.
All answers (9)Smin1080p, so what you say they will have 9.0+helis but no 9.0 tanks
You spammed this "where muh Leclerc" so much that i'm starting to hope that Leclerc doesn't come this patch...
All answers (2)__Gripen__, that's because you're not a good person, now were is my Leclerc gaijin please
Food for the OTOMATIC :D! Jokes aside, excellent models and great additions!
every flying thing is a food for the OTOMATIC, but that's fair. in the real they use that cannons on the ships today.(maybe with little upgrades)
All answers (1)ProtectorHUN, You mean everything that exists is food for the OTOMATIC?
Now, give me the leclerc ;)
We need Leclerc or any other vehicle that we can use in top tier, AMX-40 is not enough and its not competitive like the other nations MBT`s, also the repair costs made the whole French ground forces tree unplayable.
488mm pen at 10m is pretty amazing you know....
All answers (1)Portugais3000, But tier 4 tank stock repair costs 15-20k soooo I dont think those 400mm is gonna help much
Awesome!! Thank you Gaijoob <3
Why not add the British one ?
One step at a time! We're just starting to add helicopters.
All answers (2)Ouiche, Not really they've been in for a while now and we were told that every nation will get helicopters why not exploit the fact Britain and France make use of similar helo's namely gazelle and lynx, to add both at the same time.
TBH, when I saw the title of this dev blog, my first thought was "great. they're gonna give French helicopters to Germany and.... I guess UK now too?" Sorry, but I'm happy they didn't do that.
WieGottin_FR, Brittan could actually use helicopters
Well, cool, but ya pretty much just skipped Britain and Japan. Going out of order I see? When can we expect the top tier German premium jet?
Very odd indeed, consider how Japan and UK been in the game since pretty much the existence of WT.
I_NAMELESS_I, IN B4 ELECTRIC LIGHTNING!!!
Stunning model ! Can't wait to fly this beauty. Merci !
Okay. I generally tend to complain a lot in here... but for once I'm not gonna. I was hoping for a Leclerc dev blog, this is still an excellent surprise.
be happy for what you got