The Alouette II is a light helicopter originally manufactured by Sud Aviation and later Aérospatiale of France. The Alouette II was the first production helicopter to use a gas turbine instead of a conventional heavier piston engine.
It was mostly used for military purposes in observation, photography, air/sea rescue, liaison and training but it has also carried anti-tank missiles and homing torpedoes. As a civilian helicopter it was put to use as a casualty evacuation (with two external stretcher panniers), crop-spraying and flying crane (with a 500kg external sling load).
In 1961 the Lebanese air force received French "Alouette II" and "Alouette III" helicopters, followed by a second batch of "Alouette III" helicopters in early 1969