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The task of recovering aircrew who come down in a combat area or in the sea falls to the French Air Force. Currently this role is fulfilled by the CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) versions of the SA330 Puma. The capacity of the Puma in terms of personnel and equipment considerably limits their radius of action in this role.

To address these operational limitations, the DGA tasked Eurocopter in 1995 with the development of a new CSAR version of the Cougar, the Cougar 532 Mk2.

Since then, to further optimise the various components required for this type of mission, a new version, the Cougar Mk2+ (referred to as the EC725), has been developed; the first flight took place on 30 November 2000.

The EC725 is a twin-engined medium class helicopter (11 Tonnes) which is fitted with the specialised equipment associated with this type of mission such as in-flight refuelling, a counter-measures system and personnel location devices.

The first four EC725 Cougar Resco will be delivered to french Air Force in 2005.