Aérospatiale SA 341/342 Gazelle

Updated: October 2026 – A narrow glass cabin, three rotor blades, a thin tail boom and, at the back, a round hole in the tail instead of an open rotor: if you come across a small helicopter like that, there is a good chance it is a Gazelle. The design dates from the sixties and made aviation history, because it brought the fenestron into series production. The Gazelle flew for the French Army, for British Army, Navy and Air Force, for dozens of export customers and for private owners. Here you will learn how it came about, which versions exist, how to recognize it reliably and where you can still see it fly today.

What is the Gazelle?

The Gazelle is a light, single-engine turbine helicopter for one pilot and a handful of passengers. With a maximum takeoff weight of 1,800 kilograms in the civil SA 341G version, it plays in the same league as the Bell 206 JetRanger or the MD 500. It is, however, designed to be considerably faster: the SA 341G data sheet gives a top speed of around 310 km/h.

Three design features define the type. First, the fenestron, a tail rotor with many short blades that runs in a tunnel in the vertical stabilizer. Second, a three-blade main rotor with blades made of composite material – a modern approach at the time. Third, the Astazou shaft turbine from Turbomeca, the engine manufacturer that now belongs to Safran. It sits clearly visible behind the rotor mast above the cabin.

The Gazelle was built mainly in Marignane near Marseille, not far from Marseille Airport. That is where Airbus Helicopters, the successor of Aérospatiale and Eurocopter, still has its main French plant today. That is why we list the Gazelle in the database under Airbus, even though that name never appeared on any of the aircraft.

From the SA 340 to the production type

In the mid-sixties the French Army was looking for a successor to the Alouette II that was to be faster and more modern. Sud Aviation answered with the SA 340. The prototype flew on April 7, 1967 – still with an open tail rotor modeled on the Alouette. Sud Aviation tested the fenestron on a second test aircraft, which took off with the new tail on April 12, 1968. The idea of a shrouded tail rotor was older, but it was the French aerodynamicist Paul Fabre who made it practical.

For the main rotor, the team initially took an unusual path: the rigid, hingeless rotor was derived from that of the Bo 105, which MBB was developing in parallel in Germany. At high speeds, however, control problems appeared, so the production aircraft got a more conventional rotor head with hinges. The pre-production SA 341 flew from August 1968, the first French production aircraft in August 1971. A year later, on June 7, 1972, the civil SA 341G was certified.

In the meantime Sud Aviation had become Aérospatiale through a merger, and the Gazelle had gained a British partner. In February 1967 France and Britain had concluded a helicopter agreement covering three types: the Puma, the Gazelle and the Lynx, led by Westland. Westland took over a large part of the production for the British armed forces and ended up building 262 Gazelles.

The Gazelle showed early on what it was made of. It set speed records in its class, including around 307 km/h over a three-kilometer measured course. The civil SA 341G also made history as the first helicopter certified for single-pilot instrument flight – made possible by a dual-channel autopilot.

The versions at a glance

The Gazelle’s designations follow a letter scheme: the number reveals the basic version, the letter the customer or purpose.

Version	Engine	Customer / purpose	Special feature
SA 340	Astazou	prototypes	first flight 1967, fenestron from 1968
SA 341B (Gazelle AH.1)	Astazou III	British Army	158 built, service from July 1974
SA 341C (Gazelle HT.2)	Astazou III	Royal Navy	30 built, training helicopter
SA 341D (Gazelle HT.3)	Astazou III	Royal Air Force	14 built, training until 1997
SA 341E (Gazelle HCC.4)	Astazou III	Royal Air Force	only one aircraft, liaison flights
SA 341F	Astazou III	French Army	166 built, some with 20 mm cannon
SA 341G	Astazou IIIA	civil customers	first single-pilot IFR certification
SA 341H	Astazou III	export	licensed production at SOKO in Yugoslavia
SA 342J	Astazou XIV	civil customers	more powerful engine
SA 342K / L	Astazou XIV	export	hot-weather and military versions
SA 342M / M1	Astazou XIV	French Army	anti-tank with HOT, later Viviane sight

What matters for you as a spotter: from the outside, the SA 341 and SA 342 are hard to tell apart. Military equipment such as sights, weapon mounts or infrared suppressors on the exhaust gives away the purpose, not necessarily the basic version. You find the exact variant through the registration or the military serial number.

In service: France, Britain and the world

France: For the French Army, the ALAT (Aviation légère de l’armée de Terre), the Gazelle became the workhorse for decades. The SA 342M with HOT anti-tank missiles entered service from 1984, joined by reconnaissance aircraft, versions with a 20 mm cannon and the air-defense Gazelle with Mistral missiles. The modernized Viviane version got a sight with a thermal imager and laser rangefinder on the cabin roof. In the 1990/91 Gulf War, according to French figures, France sent 60 HOT Gazelles, 14 cannon aircraft and 14 reconnaissance aircraft into Operation Daguet. Later, Gazelles flew off the helicopter carrier off Libya in 2011 and in Mali from 2013.

In 2007 the Army still used almost 300 Gazelles; the fleet has since shrunk considerably. In the combat role the Tiger has taken over, and for training the H120 arrived. The remaining tasks are gradually being taken over in France by the H160M Guépard from the HIL program, a military version of the H160. Because this program has been delayed, French sources expect Gazelles into the 2030s (as of October 2026).

Britain: Here the Gazelle flew with all three branches of the armed forces. The Army Air Corps received its AH.1 from July 1974, the Royal Navy used the HT.2 as a training helicopter, and the Royal Air Force the HT.3. In the 1982 Falklands War Gazelles were hastily fitted with rocket pods, armor and floats; several were lost. In Northern Ireland they flew patrol and surveillance missions for decades, along with deployments in the Gulf War, in Kosovo and in Afghanistan. On October 23, 2023 the Army said farewell with a formation flight, and on October 31, 2023 service officially ended. The successor is the H135.

Export and licensed production: In Yugoslavia SOKO built the Gazelle under license from 1971, where it was called the Partizan. In Egypt it was assembled from the eighties. Other customers included Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Morocco, Ecuador, Ireland and numerous African states. Some of these fleets have long been retired – Ecuador, for example, retired its Gazelles in January 2025 – while others still fly.

The Gazelle as a warbird

With the end of its military career, the Gazelle has begun a second one. Hardly any other military helicopter is as accessible to private individuals: it is small, single-engine, comparatively economical and well supplied with Westland parts. In Britain, former Army, Navy and Air Force Gazelles therefore fly in civilian hands, often in their original camouflage or training liveries.

The best-known example is the Gazelle Squadron, a display team that shows former military Gazelles at air shows. According to the team, the company Falcon Aviation took over the remaining Gazelles from the Army’s inventory at the end of 2024. In the 2026 season, one appearance at the Shuttleworth Collection was on the program, among others. In parallel, the team is working on getting a former military Lynx back into the air.

For spotters this is a stroke of luck: if you used to see the Gazelle only behind barracks fences, today you get it in your viewfinder up close at air shows – in formation flight, hovering in front of the audience and on the ground within touching distance. Gazelles also keep turning up at big shows such as the Royal International Air Tattoo or the air shows at Duxford.

The three features that are enough to identify it

There are many light turbine helicopters. With the Gazelle, three observations reliably get you to the answer.

As always, the registration provides the final certainty. How to work out a hard-to-read registration anyway is explained in the article Determining an unreadable registration. The guide Identifying helicopter types offers a broad overview of rotary-wing aircraft.

Gazelle, H120 or H130?

All three have a fenestron, a turbine and a large glass cabin. The finder helps narrow it down.

Where to find the Gazelle

The Gazelle is no longer an everyday subject, but in a few places the chances are good.

Britain: The best hunting ground for warbird Gazelles. Air shows, fly-ins and smaller airfields in southern England are the typical stages. At the East Midlands Aeropark there is also a Gazelle on display next to other British military classics.

France: In military service the ALAT’s Gazelles are still out and about, mainly around Army aviation sites and schools in southern and western France. Before you get your camera out there, read the article Photographing at French airports and the general rules at military airfields. You can see a Gazelle statically at Aeroscopia in Toulouse.

Germany, Austria, Switzerland: Here the Gazelle is a visitor. The Bundeswehr relied on the Bo 105, so there is no domestic military fleet. With luck you catch foreign military or private aircraft passing through or at air shows.

Place	Chance of a hit	Why
British air shows and fly-ins	high	warbird Gazelles in civilian hands, Gazelle Squadron
French Army aviation sites	medium	ALAT fleet still in service, gradually getting smaller
Museums such as Aeroscopia or East Midlands Aeropark	certain (static)	exhibits
German commercial airports	low	ferry flights and visitors rare

Military Gazelles don’t always transmit complete ADS-B data. Tips for tracking them down can be found in the articles Finding helicopters on the flight tracker and Tracking military aircraft online.

Photo tips specifically for the Gazelle

The Gazelle is a rewarding but small subject. A few points help you get a better shot.

You can find more on technique at air shows in the guide Photographing air shows, and general tips for rotary-wing aircraft in the article Helicopter spotting.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The Gazelle changed the helicopter world lastingly: the fenestron it brought into series production is found today in many Airbus Helicopters models. Militarily it was in service for over half a century, from the Falklands War to Mali, and in France it still flies. In Britain it has made the leap into the warbird scene and is a fixture of air show programs there. For spotters it remains a classic that you should have in your hangar at least once.