Airbus Helicopters took advantage of the ILA show in Berlin to announce that it had joined forces with a team of industrialists to offer its five-bladed H145M helicopter to the Bundeswehr. Named “LUH SK – Team H145M ”, this team includes ecms Aviation Systems, Hensoldt Sensors, Hensoldt Avionics, Liebherr-Aerospace, Rohde & Schwarz, Safran Helicopter Engines and ZF Luftfahrttechnik. Other partners may also join the program later.
“We have a solid product with very high availability, guaranteed short delivery times, and we have organized the support of the weapon system with a large number of German companies,” says Wolfgang Schoder, Managing Director of Airbus Helicopters in Germany.
“With the formation of the team, we offer the Bundeswehr a complete setup that can be obtained quickly and efficiently,” he added.
The European helicopter manufacturer specifies that the needs of the Bundeswehr could go up to 55 helicopters. They should be produced in Donauwörth (Bavaria). The H145M has already been in service with the German armed forces since 2015.
The new five-blade rotor provides simplified maintenance while increasing the payload by 150 kg, or 1.91 tonnes. The helicopter is powered by two Safran Helicopter Engines Arriel 2E turbines managed by a FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control).
The military version of the multi-purpose twin-engine helicopter is already in service in Hungary (20), Germany (15), Serbia (9), Thailand (5) and Luxembourg (2). The US Army is fielding 460 UH-72 Lakota helicopters, a derivative of the H145M produced in the United States.