On behalf of the Ministry of the Interior, the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) ordered 42 new H145 helicopters at the end of 2023; delivery will commence in 2024. Sécurité Civile, the French rescue and emergency response agency, will receive 36 of these 42 helicopters. Gendarmerie Nationale, the French law enforcement agency, will use the remaining six. The agreement provides the Gendarmerie Nationale with an option to acquire an additional 22 H145s, various support and service solutions (including spare parts and training), and a comprehensive initial support package for the aircraft.
Bruno Even, chief executive officer of Airbus Helicopters, stated that the H145 has already demonstrated its value by assisting the Sécurité Civile in numerous rescue missions throughout the challenging mountainous terrain of the French Alps. Internationally, numerous law enforcement agencies use the H145. He elaborated that the Gendarmerie would be granted access to an advanced helicopter outfitted with the most recent mission systems.
Currently in service are four five-bladed H145s procured for the Sécurité Civile in 2020 and 2021. Progressively, the 33 EC145s presently being used for rescue and air medical transport services across France will be substituted with the 36 H145s.
The six H145s will commence the fleet renewal of the Gendarmerie, which presently consists of EC145s, Ecureuils, and EC135s. A mission computer and an electro-optical system will be provided to enable them to execute the most arduous law enforcement tasks.
This latest version of Airbus’ best-selling H145 light twin-engine helicopter, which will be certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in June 2020, features an innovative five-bladed rotor that increases the useful load of the multi-mission helicopter by 150 kilogrammes while also delivering previously unattainable levels of comfort, simplicity, and connectivity. The Helionix digital avionics suite and full authority digital engine control (FADEC) are both installed on the H145. The aircraft is propelled by two Safran Arriel 2E engines. It features a four-axis autopilot with superior performance, which increases pilot safety and decreases burden. Due to its exceptionally small acoustic footprint, the H145 is the quietest helicopter in its category. At present, Airbus operates a fleet of over 1,675 H145 family helicopters across the globe, which have accumulated over 7.6 million flight hours in total.
