The Spanish Guardia Civil and Spain’s National Police
have taken delivery of the first two H135s, under a 36-unit
contract signed with the General Directorate for Armaments and
Materiel (DGAM) at the end of 2021 to supply the Ministry of
Defence and the Ministry of Interior.
The handover ceremony took place at the Airbus
plant in Albacete.
The new helicopters will enable the National
Police and Guardia Civil to replace BO105 helicopters in a wide
range of missions including police, surveillance, and rescue
activities.
In total, the Ministry of Interior will receive 18
helicopters.
“We are proud that the new H135s, which will join
the 31 helicopters that are already operated by the Ministry of
the Interior, will help law enforcement agencies to continue
protecting and saving lives throughout Spain,” said Bruno Even,
CEO of Airbus Helicopters. “The H135 has proven to be a much-loved
helicopter in Spain, where more than 80 units are already flying
all kinds of essential missions for more than 25 years. Just 10
months after the contract was signed, this delivery is further
proof of this Iberian success story.”
As for the Spanish Air Force and Navy, which will
receive eleven and seven H135s respectively, deliveries will begin
next year and will be added to the 16 helicopters already operated
by the Spanish Army for training and support missions for the
Military Emergency Unit (UME).
From 2023 onwards, the three armed
forces will be able to benefit from synergies in terms of
training, operation and maintenance.
More than 1,350 light twin-engine H135
helicopters are operated by 300 operators in 64 countries. The
fleet has accumulated more than 6 million flight hours with more
than 200 of the helicopters used for law enforcement
missions.
