French Army Lynx - FINISHED

[Weaver]

French Army Aviation (ALAT) Lynx HAP.1




Development of the Westland Lynx was started in the mid-1960s as a replacement for the Westland Scout and Wasp. As part of the Anglo-French helicopter agreement signed in February 1967, French company Sud Aviation (later Aerospatiale) had a 30 per cent share of production work, Westland performing the remainder. Britain would buy the Gazelle and Puma for it's armed forces, France would buy a slim-fuselage gunship version of the Lynx, and both navies would buy a navalized version of the Lynx. However the French Army later pulled out due to budget pressures, and the British Army Air Corps was unable to finance the gunship on it's own, so the variant was abandoned and the AAC subsequently took delivery of a minimum-change anti-armour variant of the basic helo, equipped with a eight TOW anti-tank missiles.




Subsequent to the cancellation however, the French budget situation improved and the ALAT (French Army Aviation) took another look at the Lynx. They had been dismayed to discover that the Gazelle could only carry four HOT anti-tank missiles, as opposed to the six carried by the rival German Bo.105 PAH-1, and the Lynx's speed and maneuverability, now proven beyond all doubt, looked a lot more useful in the escort and anti-helicopter role. In consequence, a proportion of the ALAT Gazelle order was switched to the Lynx, with the smaller helicopter now only performing the liason and scouting roles.




Since ALAT still couldn't afford all the Lynxes it wanted, they were delivered in a multi-role configuration, with black boxes and controls that could be quickly switched to use alternative weapon fits. The three most used were HAC (anti-tank) with eight HOTs, HAP (escort) with rocket pods plus a 20mm cannon in the cabin, and HAP (anti-helo) with four Mistral air-to-air missiles. All three versions performed well in subsequent service, with a HAP Lynx downing a Libyan Mi-24 in Chad, and HAC Lynxes racking up an impressive kill-count of Iraqi tanks and AFVs in the first Gulf War. The Lynx was replaced in the anti-tank and anti-helicopter roles by the Eurocopter Tiger from 2009 onwards, but still remains in service in the escort role due to the reduced orders for the Tiger and NH-90.




The model shows a Lynx HAP (anti-helo) as it first entered service, in an overall olive-drab colour scheme. They were subsequently re-painted in camouflage schemes and fitted with various 'lumps and bumps' for electronic warfare and self-protection.




Kit: Airfix Army Lynx
Missiles & most decals: Italeri Eurocopter Tigre HAP
Tactical codes: Extradecal X72158 RAF Letters and Numbers (not Luftwaffe as I previously said)







Not the best thing I've ever done, but it's quite pretty and it got me back to the bench, which is the main thing. The decals were dodgy though: I may give it a coat of matt varnish in a few days just to make sure they stay on. I'm also thinking about revisiting the subject with a better donor kit: say a late-service version based on a Hobbyboss Navy Lynx converted to AH.9ish layout with the chin turret and the modern (pretty) ALAT camouflage.

[AeroplaneDriver]

Very nice!   

[Old Wombat]

Yup!

[Pellson]

That's almost unexpectedly plausible. Good stuff!

[NARSES2]

Come out well H