Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
Eurocopter has won Government approval for a contract to supply nine EC135 light helicopters on a ten-year lease to police in the south German state of Bavaria.
According to Eurocopter, the contract will be signed on 13 November, now that the Bavarian regional government has cleared the DM60 million ($40 million) deal in its budget plans. The helicopters are to be delivered from mid-1997 to mid-1998, replacing the mixed police fleet of 11 BO105s and BK117s and making the Bavarian police the biggest EC135 customer to date.
Some helicopters in the current fleet are 15 to 20 years old, says Eurocopter, and all are noisier and less economical than the new EC135. Eurocopter will now take the old helicopters back, and will attempt to sell them on.
The police EC135s will be powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada twin 330kW (440shp) PW206B turbo-shafts. As the first EC135s adapted for demanding night missions, they will have glass cockpits, with night-vision-compatible multi-function displays, allowing operations under instrument flight rules, with global-positioning-system satellite-navigation capability.The aircraft will also be fitted with forward-looking infra-red units, loudspeakers and searchlights, and an external-load hook.
Eurocopter's EC135 order book now stands at 40 firm orders, with the company predicting six more deliveries before the end of this year and a production rate of 30 helicopters in 1997. Four machines have been delivered since the EC135's certification in mid-year: two for emergency medical services (EMS) duties in Germany, one VIP transport variant and a further EMS aircraft for the USA.
The Franco-German company expects the market for the EC135 to pick up now that demonstrator aircraft have been sent to the USA and Asia, offering test flights to potential customers.
EC135 will join the Bavarian police force in 1997.
Source: Flight International
