The Ministries of Defense and the Interior of Spain ordered 36 Airbus H135 helicopters. The Ministry of Defense will receive 18 helicopters to be operated by the Air Force and the Navy, while the Ministry of the Interior will also receive 18 helicopters to be operated by the National Police and the Civil Guard. Deliveries will begin next year.
The Spanish Army already has a fleet of 16 EC135 helicopters. With this acquisition, the Air Force will become a new operator of the H135, as will the Navy, which in turn will be a new customer of Airbus Helicopters.
Like the EC135s acquired some time ago by the Army, the Air Force and the Navy are going to dedicate the new aircraft to replace the older models of helicopters currently used for training pilots, as stated in the Master Plan for Obtaining DGAM Helicopters (PDOH).
The Ministry of the Interior currently has a fleet of 31 helicopters of the H135 family in operation with the National Police, Civil Guard and Traffic. The new helicopters will allow the Police and Civil Guard to replace the obsolete BO105 helicopters in a wide range of missions related to law enforcement, surveillance operations and rescue and rescue missions.
“The convergence and standardization of the H135 fleets in the Armed Forces and in the State Security Forces and Agencies will guarantee greater operability and better sustainability,” said iral Santiago Ramón González, of the DGAM.
“t procurement, centralized at DGAM, will also contribute to applying economies of scale and generating the necessary synergies to avoid duplication and reduce acquisition, operation and maintenance costs. This collaboration between the Ministries of the Interior and Defense is an important milestone in the rationalization of the Spanish Government's helicopter programs”.
“We are pleased to sign the largest H135 contract in the history of this program in Spain, an important partner and one of the largest operators of this model worldwide. I take the opportunity to welcome the Navy and Air Force as new s of the helicopter”, said Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters.
“The performance, versatility and flight availability of the H135 were especially appreciated by Spanish operators.”
The Airbus H135 light twin engine is equipped with the most advanced technologies available, including the Helionix avionics suite designed by Airbus Helicopters. There are around 1.350 H135s managed by 300 operators in 64 countries, and the fleet has accumulated 6 million flight hours.
Street: Airbus
