This handout file photo taken and released by Sirpa Air on June 6, 2016 shows French Caracal helicopters flying during an air-to-air refuelling exercise.

PARIS: France will supply 30 military helicopters to Kuwait in a deal worth over one billion euros ($1.1 billion) that French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian signed yesterday. The agreement to buy the versatile Airbus Caracal helicopters is part of a €2.5 billion package of deals that the two countries agreed in Oct 2015. France has given Kuwait military support since the 1990 invasion of the country by Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces. The two countries are also fighting together in the international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group.

"With this deal, Kuwait further strengthens the strategic partnership which has bound together our two countries for several decades, while we are currently engaged side-by-side in the fight against Daesh in Iraq and Syria," Le Drian said in a statement, using the Arabic term for Islamic State. Kuwait's army will use 24 of the helicopters mainly for search and rescue missions and for transport purposes, but they are also fitted with machine guns allowing them to offer ground troops cover from the air. The Kuwait National Guard will operate the remaining six helicopters.

Airbus confirmed the order in a statement. The long-range H225M tactical transport helicopters each seat 28 troops in addition to crew. The Kuwaiti order is a much-needed boost for the Airbus Group's helicopter division, which has been hit by weaker demand from the oil and gas industry. It has also suffered in the wake of April's fatal crash of a H225 Super Puma, the model's civilian version, blamed on gearbox metal fatigue in a preliminary report. - Agencies