Royal Air Force PUMA at 54

After 54 years of loyal service with the Royal Air Force, the Westland Puma retired from service on 31st March 2025, making it the longest-ever serving helicopter with the RAF. The Puma HC2, often referred to as the ‘workhorse’ of the air force provided versatility in the UK and abroad, serving with 33 and 230 Squadron’s from RAF Benson. Chris Melaisi was able to witness the types final visit to Scotland, where two aircraft participated in Exercise. Kukri Dawn out of Leuchars Station on various training flights.

The Aérospatiale SA330 was delivered to the UK in 1968. Westland helicopters went on to develop the type and built 48 to Puma HC.Mk 1 standard, flying the initial example for the first time on November 25, 1970. The type entered service with 33 Sqn in June the following year and with 230 Sqn in January 1972.  

‘The Puma saw its first major operational service monitoring ceasefire arrangements in Rhodesia during 1980. The puma also served extensively in Northern Ireland, and in Belize during tensions with neighbouring Guatemala, where it provided mobility for the British Army and support for RAF Harriers. The Puma also provided essential lift during Operation Granby, the British contribution to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, which successfully liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991. Later action saw the Puma working over the former Yugoslavia and engaged in humanitarian efforts around the world. In three decades of service, the aircraft had changed remarkably little, save for the addition of specific role equipment and simple self protection systems, but when the UK committed forces to Operation Herrick in Afghanistan, its limitations at last became apparent. Most importantly, the helicopter lacked power in the hot-and-high conditions typical of the Afghan summer, and in its mountains, leaving it short of lift and largely unsuitable for sustained deployment.’ -RAF

In 2007 Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) was awarded a contract by the UK MoD to upgrade 28 RAF Puma’s from Mk.1 (HC1) to Mk.2 (HC2) standard under a life expansion programme (LEP). The main goal was to upgrade the Puma’s ‘lack of power’ and this was achieved by replacing the old Turbomeca 3-C4 turbine engines with Turbomeca Makila 1A1 engines, which were found in the larger ‘Super Puma’ variant. This increase in power along with a newly upgraded glass cockpit and defensive aids kept the puma current and provided it with the capability to operate in hot climates with heavy loads. The first LEP Puma was delivered in 2009, with the final delivery completed in 2015.

Seen operating in the Pentland hills, to the South of Edinburgh, ‘‘VORTEX 284’’, a 33 Squadron Puma HC2 (ZJ954) is seen lifting on a Kukri Dawn training ex.

The Puma’s versatility as a ‘medium’ lift helicopter in RAF service meant that it was used for a number of taskings including troop and equipment transportation, VIP transportation, MEDEVAC, Search and Rescue and even Firefighting. The puma was deployed to the warm climates of Belize and Brunei with 1563 flight, replacing retired Army Bell 212 and more recently to 84 Squadron in Cyprus, replacing retried RAF Bell Griffon’s in 2023. Notably, In 2020, 3x Benson Puma’s were deployed to Scotland to offer assistance to the NHS during the global pandemic, acting as a lifeline and transporting ill patients between remote, hard-to-reach areas and major hospitals.

In the final two months of UK Puma operations, two Benson cabs (ZA939 & ZJ954) headed North of the border to participate in the type’s last-ever military exercise. Between the 6th-21st February 2025, RAF Benson’s 28(AC) squadron deployed both Puma and Chinook to Leuchars Station as part of Exercise Kukri Dawn, a military training exercise used to train and assess new students on type through formation and low level flying as well as more complex and realistic scenarios. The exercise also provides opportunity for existing frontline members to perform currency flights.

Here, a 33 Squadron Westland Puma HC2 lifts beneath the Pentland Hills after collecting the British Army’s 1st Battalion on a Kukri Dawn exercise. This marked the final ever visit of the type to Scotland in RAF service.

To celebrate the life of the type in RAF service, Puma HC2 XW224 made its final public appearance before retirement at RAF Northolt during one of the bases bi-annual nightshoots, a great spectacle to see the aging type under the lights. Later in the month, a 2-day farewell flight occurred between the 26th-27th March 2025, which saw 3x aircraft depart from RAF Benson and perform nationwide flyby’s over area’s of significance throughout the type’s career. The Westland Puma was officially withdrawn from use on the 31st March, 2025 after a staggering 54 years of service.