Story ID: 111 MD 530G
MDHI Secures Launch Customer for 530G
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Malaysian Army Aviation will take delivery of the new variant beginning later this year.
Word Count: 447

MD Helicopters (MDHI) bolstered its military business with the signing of a launch customer for its MD 530G scout attack helicopter. The Malaysia Ministry of Defense signed a contract to take delivery of six of the upgraded model. Plans call for MDHI to begin delivery of the helicopters to Malaysian army aviation, Pasukan Udara Teneter Darat(PUDT), late this year with all six to be handed over the end of the first quarter of 2017.

The MD 530G first flew in 2013 and MDHI formally announced the helicopter and completed live-fire testing a year later. The next in line to the 530F that was certified more than 30 years ago, the 530G is fitted with more robust landing gear to support a 3,750-pound mtow that increases payload for range, endurance and weapons. The helicopter has a top speed of 130 knots.

The aircraft is configured to accommodate an integrated on-board stores management system, FLIR, guided and unguided rockets and inboard .50 caliber machine guns. The Malaysian army’s fleet of MD 530G helicopters will be equipped with a custom weapons package, advanced communications capabilities and electro-optical/infrared sensors to detect a range of threats.

The Malaysian contract is the second for announced this year for MDHI’s scout helicopters. The company in January announced a follow-on contract to deliver 12 more of its 530F Cayuse Warrior scout attack helicopters with enhanced mission equipment to the Afghan air force.

MD Helicopters delivered the first 12 MD 530F Cayuse Warrior helicopters to the Afghan air force in support of the 2015 fighting season. Delivery of those helicoptersbegan in March 2015. Also, five other MD 530Fs that were used as primary training aircraft have been upgraded to the Cayuse Warrior configuration.

“The MD 530F has played an integral role in building the capabilities of the Afghan air force and the Afghan national defense and security forces since the first aircraft arrived in Shindand in 2011,” said MDHI CEO Lynn Tilton. “In both training and combat configurations, the fleet has consistently maintained a mission launch rate of greater than 97 percent.”

MDHI also marked several smaller key wins for its 530F over the past year in other government and civilian sectors, including orders from police departments in Mesa, Ariz.; Las Vegas and Fresno County, Calif. Police departments in Gwinnett County, Ga., and Columbus, Ohio, took re-delivery of helicopters upgraded to the 530F configuration. Also taking delivery of a new 530F was Two Bear Air Rescue in Whitefish, Mont.

Those orders capped off a year that began with Tilton anticipating growth across its market segments, continuing the rebound of the company that faced shuttering a decade ago.