Westland Super Lynx Mk 88A (c/n 422, ´83+02´ of Marineflieger / the German Naval Aviation) performing a flying display during second spotter day at NATO Tiger Meet 2024, Schleswig/Jagel, June 2024.
The Super Lynx Mk 88A helicopter, operated by the German Naval Aviation, was already presented within our Photo of the Week series in September of 2023. At that time, we shared a photo of the Super Lynx ´83+26´, carrying a special livery to celebrate forty years of this rotorcraft type active service with Marineflieger. In the mentioned article, you can also find some details from development of the Westland Lynx helicopter family, as well as history of its operational service in German armed forces.
Therefore, today we would like to focus on another example of the Super Lynx helicopter, the rotorcraft ´83+02´ and its special livery presented during the 2024 edition of NATO Tiger Meet.
The helicopter was built as Sea Lynx Mk 88 (c/n 223) in 1981 by Westland Helicopters Ltd. in Yeovil, the United Kingdom. In 1983, it was acquired by the German Naval Aviation and taken on strength with tactical number ´83+02´.
The Mk 88 variant was the first version of the Lynx helicopter purchased by the German armed forces. A total of nineteen rotorcraft of that type were bought in the early 1980s and used as onboard helicopters on the German Navy frigates.
In 1996, Bundesmarine (the German Navy) acquired seven more Lynx helicopters, namely the Super Lynx Mk 88A. It was an upgraded variant of the Sea Lynx, equipped with omnidirectional radar mounted in under-nose radome and nose mounted FLIR system.
Two years later, Bundesmarine decided about modernisation of its Sea Lynx fleet into the Mk 88A standard. That upgrade was also performed on the ´83+02´ helicopter which then received new construction number 422.
The German Lynx helicopters were assigned to Marinefliegergeschwader 3 (Naval Air Wing 3) ´Graf Zeppelin´, based at Fliegerhorst Nordholz (Nordholz Naval Airbase) in Lower Saxony. In November of 2012, in consequence of restructuration of the German armed forces, the rotorcraft were re-assigned to Marinefliegergeschwader 5.
Nowadays, the German Naval Aviation is in the middle of generational change. The aircraft developed during the Cold War era, such as P-3C Orion maritime patrol aeroplane, Sea King Mk 41 and Lynx helicopters, are currently being withdrawn from active service.
The decision of the Super Lynx retirement was made already in 2017. Since then, those helicopters are consequently being replaced with NATO Frigate Helicopter NH90 Sea Tiger. This process is expected to be finalized in 2025.
Therefore, the attractive and eye-catching ´tiger livery´ presented on the ´83+02´ rotorcraft during the NTM 2024, is one of the final special painting schemes applied on that type of helicopter. And, in addition, the 2024 edition of the NTM was one of the last opportunities to see the Super Lynx participating in military exercise in Europe. Although it was not long ago when the rotorcraft from the Lynx family were used by air forces and/or navies of Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, Germany is now the sole operator of that aircraft type in Europe.
An interesting fact is that although the ´83+02´ helicopter is operated by the German Naval Aviation, the special ´tiger livery´ was designed and made by Luftwaffe personnel.
