Airbus Helicopters and the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service have announced a contract for three five-bladed H145 multi-mission helicopters at the 2023 European Rotors trade show, expanding the service’s fleet. These three additional H145s bring the total number of Airbus helicopters in service with the Lithuanian government to eleven, further strengthening Airbus Helicopters’ position in this mission segment. The helicopters will be operated for a wide range of missions including search and rescue, disaster relief and medevac, border patrol, firefighting, transport of donor organs, and operational deployment of the Lithuanian Special Forces. There are more than 200 helicopters of the H145 helicopter family deployed to public services and law enforcement missions all around the world.
“We are honoured that the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service is placing its trust in Airbus Helicopters once again with the selection of the H145 as its next generation multi-role helicopter,” said Olivier Michalon, Executive Vice President Global Business for Airbus Helicopters. “Our partnership started in 2002 when the Lithuanian State Border Guard received their first EC120. Twenty-one years later, it is a privilege to support such a distinguished organisation and to contribute to essential security missions in order to protect and serve the population of Lithuania and to make Europe safer,” he added.
“We are allocating significant resources to provide our State Border Guard Service with state-of-the-art equipment such as the multi-mission H145 helicopters,” said Agné Bilotaité, the Lithuanian Minister of Interior. “Funded in part by the national budget and also thanks to European funding, the H145s will further strengthen the intelligence and response capabilities of our border guards and contribute to Lithuania’s security,” she added.
The new version of Airbus’ best-selling H145 adds a new, innovative five-bladed rotor to the multi-mission H145, increasing the useful load of the helicopter by 150 kg. The simplicity of the new bearingless main rotor design will also ease maintenance operations, further improving the benchmark serviceability and reliability of the H145, while improving ride comfort for both passengers and crew. In total, there are more than 1,650 H145 family helicopters in service, logging a total of more than 7.5 million flight hours. Powered by two Safran Arriel 2E engines, the H145 is equipped with full authority digital engine control (FADEC) and the Helionix digital avionics suite. It includes a high performance 4-axis autopilot, increasing safety and reducing pilot workload. Its particularly low acoustic footprint makes the H145 the quietest helicopter in its class, while its CO2 emissions are the lowest amongst its competitors.
