Spotlight | France, Kuwait
Kuwait helicopter contracts return to haunt Airbus

The after-effects of a contract worth more than €1bn signed in 2016 between former French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and the Kuwaiti defence minister at the time, Khaled al-Jarrah al-Sabah, continue to taint Airbus' relations with the country.
The after-effects of a contract worth more than €1bn signed in 2016 between former French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and the Kuwaiti defence minister at the time, Khaled al-Jarrah al-Sabah, continue to taint Airbus' relations with the country. © Indigo Publications - 2024 / iStock//ZX/Alamy Stock Photo//Stringer/Kuwaiti defence Ministry/AFP
Airbus Helicopters is trying its luck again in Kuwait. But the fallout from an over €1bn contract signed in 2016 continues to plague its relations with the country. Intelligence Online has learned that a French judicial preliminary investigation is underway into the 2019 death of an employee while transporting the first helicopters sold to the emirate. The question of the aircraft's reliability is an underlying issue. [...]
Reading time 10 minutes Théo Sou
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