Eurocopter EC725 Caracal

French Air Force Eurocopter EC725 Caracal in 2017.
Role	Transport Helicopter
National origin	France & Germany
Manufacturer	Eurocopter.
First flight	2000
Introduction	2006
Status	Active
Primary user	French Air Force
Unit cost	24.5 millions $

The Eurocopter EC725 Caracal is a French and German military helicopter. It is built by Eurocopter. It is the last model of the Super Pumas series. This helicopter shares part of its avionics with EC225 Super Puma Mk-2.

Equipment & weapons

All Eurocopter EC725 Caracal had got a Forward Looking Infra-Red (or FLIR) at the forward fuselage. It is like a ball. Some helicopters, like French ones, can be refueled in flight. Most have a gundoor, generally one or two 7.62mm– or 12.7mm–calibre machine gun.

Users

In 2013, the countries that use this helicopter are Brazil, France, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, and Thailand.

In France Eurocopter EC725 Caracal is mainly used to transport special forces, like in Brazil. It was used in the Afghanistan War and in Mali by the French. Some of their helicopters were used in January 2013 for an operation of the French special forces and DGSE's agents in Somalia.

Bibliography

• Jackson, Robert (2005). Helicopters: Military, Civilian and Rescue Rotorcraft. ISBN 978-1-84013-812-2.
• Frawley, Gerard (2002). International Directory of Military Aircraft 2002/03. Motorbooks International. ISBN 978-1-875671-55-7.