The Aérospatiale Gazelle was designed and built by NATO ‘partner’ France, from 1967 to 1996.  France was one of the founders of NATO, but in 1966 France supposedly withdrew from full membership.  French officials wanted a change in NATO’s command structure.  Apparently NATO gave in, and in 2009 France officially rejoined NATO.

At least three variants were produced, known as SA 340, SA 341 and SA 342.  The Gazelle was not only used by NATO members, but by non-NATO members, and even countries that were/are considered enemies of NATO, like ‘East Bloc’ Yugoslavia/Serbia (Yugoslavia was not part of the Warsaw Pact, but was considered a pro-Soviet East Bloc country by NATO).

During the Cold War, Yugoslavia’s aviation manufacturer, the now defunct SOKO (not to be confused with NATO Spain’s Soko Aviation), license built the Gazelle. Since the collapse of Yugoslavia, Serbia’s military aircraft are produced/rebuilt by Airforce Plant ‘Moma Stanojlović’, which is capable of producing almost every part needed.

The SA-341/342 Gazelle is known in Serbia as the HN-42 Gama.

Ministry of Defense of Republic of Serbia video, released 27JUN2021, of Gama/Gazelle 9M14 Malyutka (NATO reporting name AT-3 Sagger) action during the Lightning Strike 2021 war game:

Ministry of Defense of Republic of Serbia video, released 17APR2021, of Gama/Gazelle action during the Response 2021 war game:

After decades of service, the Gama/Gazelle is being phased out with the Eurocopter H-145M, which is also used by various state National Guard units in the United States, under the name Lakota.

Ministry of Defense of Republic of Serbia video, released 04JUN2020:

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2020: Helicopters of Egyptian Military