Photo from UNIAN
The minister inspected the assembly of H145 helicopters for Ukraine at a Munich plant.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov says Ukraine will receive Airbus H145 helicopters for police operations with modern avionics.
"The aviation security system in Ukraine, which we are forming now, will be working at full capacity by 2021. It will be replenished with 55 helicopters. A year later, we will receive modern H145 helicopters with new avionics and technical modifications allowing them to operate between -40°C to + 50°C. They are also able to remain still in the air up to 30 minutes," Avakov said during a working visit to Munich (Germany), as reported by the ministry's press service on December 10.
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"Each of these helicopters can essentially be re-designed for a specific task – medevac, rescue, deployment of spec-ops, or surveillance. The helicopters' configuration for a specific task can be changed within 40 minutes," the official said.
Avakov also inspected the assembly of H145 helicopters at a Munich plant. "All these helicopters will perform the same functions in our country as they do in Germany and France: searching for criminals, doing rescue operations, including those over the mountains and water. Plus, it's border control operations, especially in areas that are inaccessible to conventional units, for example, in the Chornobyl zone, the control zone on the border with the Russian Federation, and sea areas," Avakov added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, following the Intergovernmental Agreement signed between France and Ukraine on June 8, Airbus Helicopters signed a contract with the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior for the purchase of 55 civil helicopters destined for search and rescue (SAR), public services, and emergency medical service (EMS) missions in the country.
The 55 aircraft include 21 repurposed H225s, and 10 brand new H145s and 24 H125.
A world leader in the EMS segment and parapublic missions, the Airbus H145 is the latest member of its 4-tonne-class twin-engine rotorcraft product range – with designed-in mission capability and flexibility, especially in high and hot operating conditions. Compact in size, this helicopter's small footprint and large, flexible cabin make it the aircraft of choice for a variety of civil missions.