German Audit Office Urges Halt to H145M Order Over Testing Gaps
A confidential report by Germany’s Federal Court of Audit (Bundesrechnungshof) recommends that the Defence Ministry halt new orders of the H145M helicopter. According to Infodefensa, citing Der Spiegel and the broadcaster Welt, the auditors say the Ministry underestimated the complexity of adapting a civil helicopter for military use.
The report recommends suspending the planned order of 33 new H145M aircraft and buying further units only once the contractor can guarantee it will deliver the agreed service. Germany’s original contract, formalised at the end of 2023, covered 62 H145M helicopters fitted with the HForce weapons system; at the end of 2025 Berlin exercised an option for roughly 20 more, bringing the committed fleet to 82.
Chief among the technical problems cited is ammunition: the 20mm rounds intended for the helicopter’s cannon have not yet been tested by the Bundeswehr, and the rounds currently available are considered unsafe because of electrostatic sensitivity in the primer cap. Guided missiles face a similar delay, with deliveries planned only from late 2027, a schedule the Ministry itself calls “very ambitious.” Initial live-fire missile tests in May 2025 were cancelled over technical problems, and the auditors fear the missiles may yet fail operational testing.
The report warns that ammunition-planning and qualification problems could push back full operational capability by years. The first aircraft delivered would remain in a “provisional configuration,” usable only for training rather than combat.
The H145M is meant to provisionally replace Germany’s Tiger attack helicopters, which Berlin chose not to upgrade and retired several years earlier than originally planned. In the first quarter of 2022, Germany opted out of the Franco-Spanish plan to upgrade the Tiger to the MkIII standard, a programme valued at €4 billion, while remaining a partner alongside France and Spain in the broader Tiger programme.
Airbus has not responded directly to the audit findings. The manufacturer describes the H145M as “the quietest helicopter in its class” and says the airframe can be reconfigured between attack and special-operations roles within minutes.
Around the same time, Spain is acquiring roughly 50 H145M helicopters fitted with HForce as part of a wider order of about 100 military helicopters from Airbus Helicopters, suggesting the audit’s concerns are specific to Germany’s own ammunition and testing schedule rather than to the airframe itself.
The episode illustrates the practical difficulties European militaries face in rapidly adapting civil-derived platforms for combat roles. With the Tiger fleet retired early, plugging the resulting capability gap with the H145M carries a risk of an interim period with reduced attack capacity for German army aviation until ammunition integration is complete.
Sources:
Infodefensa, “Un informe oficial propone parar el pedido de H145M con el que Alemania sustituye a sus Tigre por la complejidad de adaptar helicópteros civiles al uso militar”, 3 November 2026, infodefensa.com — Primary source for this report; details of the German Federal Court of Audit report and order figures are drawn from this article.
