The
French Naval Aviation took delivery of 15 Panthers between 1993 and 1998 for maritime operations. As a response to increasing acts of
piracy in the
Gulf of Aden, since 2008, Panthers have been routinely dispatched upon multiple French frigates that have conducted deployments in support of
Operation Atalanta, a long term pan-European counter-piracy operation. In the Aden, the Panther has been typically used for maritime patrol, surveillance and troop-transport missions, such as the transportation of strike teams and the retrieval of detainees. In May 2009, France announced a major mid-life upgrade program for the Aeronavale's Panther fleet, focused on cockpit upgrades and improved defensive/offensive equipment. The additions and alterations include a new
glass cockpit compatible with
night vision goggles (NVG),
electro-optical sensors, a new anti-jamming radio,
Link 11 data-link, and a self-protection system based on that used on the
Eurocopter Tiger. On 31 May 2011, the first of 16
Standard 2 Panthers was delivered back to the French Navy. In 1988, Brazil's
Army Aviation took delivery of its first Panther helicopter, which was produced locally by
Helibras. In January 2010, Helibras was awarded a contact to upgrade 34 AS365K Panthers to the new AS365 K2 standard. Changes on the Panther K2 include new
Turbomeca Arriel 2C2CG engines which produce 40% more power, a glass cockpit containing new avionics and radio systems, a four-axis autopilot, a new
weather radar, NVG-compatibility, and measures to reduce pilot workload, and shall extend the airframe's service life for a further 25 years. In March 2014, the first two Panther K2 rotorcraft were delivered to the Brazilian Army. In September 2014, the Panther K2 passed its technical operation evaluation, having reportedly demonstrated a 98% availability rating throughout the trial period, clearing the way for the full modernisation program to proceed. Their mission is to extend the naval reach of Israel's defense forces, they can be deployed on board the
Israeli Navy's
Sa'ar 5-class corvettes when required; the rotorcraft are equipped with long range sensors to identify targets in the
Mediterranean and a datalink to convey sensory data to the corvettes, their combined sensory capability has reportedly helped foil several attempted
terrorist attacks. The AS565MA is the only rotorcraft in Israeli service capable of locating people at sea during day or night conditions, and can operate in nearly all sea conditions. As of 2015, more than 250 navalised variants of the AS 565MB Panther have been in service with operators across 20 nations. In 2014, the
Indonesian Navy opted to procure 11 ASW-equipped Panthers through
Indonesian Aerospace (PTDI); Airbus Helicopters shall produce the base rotorcraft and deliver them to PTDI's facility in
Bandung,
Indonesia and separately install mission systems such as the ASW suite. In the Asian market, the European-built Panther has had limited sales mainly due to export competition from the Chinese-built
Harbin Z-9, itself a license-built derivative of the Dauphin alike to the Panther. ==Variants==