On 12 May 2025, the first of six Jupiter HC2 helicopters was delivered to QinetiQ Boscombe Down for testing. The helicopter was painted in gloss black/yellow colours, much similar to the Jupiter HT1s used for pilot training at RAF Shawbury. It was adorned with white "ARMY" titles on the tailboom.

 

Three helicopters are slated to be delivered to Brunei for usage by 667 squadron (Army Air Corps) to support British Army jungle training efforts. The remaining three helicopters are slated to be delivered to 84 squadron (Royal Air Force) at RAF Akrotiri (Cyprus) for search and rescue and fire fighting duties.

 

As such, the Jupiter HC2 will be replacing the Bell 212 (AAC) and Griffin HAR2 (RAF) helicopters previously used for these purposes. Delays in the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) programme resulted in Puma HC2 helicopters being used as stop gap measures when the Bell 212 and Griffin HAR2 were retired in 2022 / 2023. With the Puma HC2 itself being officially retired on 31 March 2025, another temporary measure was taken by deploying Chinook helicopters to RAF Akrotiri (Cyprus).

 

The six Jupiter HC2s were produced by Airbus at their Donauwörth (Germany) facility and subsequently delivered to Airbus UK at Oxford-Kidlington for upgrades in accordance with British Ministry of Defence specifications. It is planned that the Jupiter HC2 will take on its new duties in Brunei and Cyprus in 2026. Current details of the six helicopters involved are:

 

ZZ145 c/n 21317 ex D-HBTD, ex G-CMXA (reg 26sep24/canx 29apr25), del to QinetiQ Boscombe Down on 12may25
ZZ146 c/n 21328 ex D-HADM, G-CMXB (reg 30oct24), currently undergoing mods at Kidlington
ZZ147 c/n 21355 ex D-HADK, G-CMXX (reg 06feb25), currently undergoing mods at Kidlington
ZZ148 c/n 21367 ex D-HBTK, G-CMXD (reg 02apr25), currently undergoing mods at Kidlington
ZZ149 c/n 21377 ex D-HADV, currently at Donauwörth (Germany)
ZZ150 c/n 21390 ex D-HBTQ, currently at Donauwörth (Germany)