UK-based HeliOperations has been awarded a £160 million ($207 million), seven-year contract to provide training for German naval helicopter pilots.
Flight training “will include theoretical instruction, advanced simulator sessions, and practical live flight training by day and night” using HeliOperations’ fleet of Leonardo Helicopters AW139s.
Training will “commence immediately” at HeliOperations’ Portland base on England’s south coast, where it is also constructing the necessary infrastructure for the contract.
“This contract reflects the German [defence ministry’s] confidence in our ability to provide the highest standards of training, service and support and solidifies HeliOperations’ position as a leading provider of civil and military aviation training services,” says Steve Gladston, founder and chief executive.
HeliOperations says the training will prepare crews to operate the navy’s Sea Lions and Sea Tigers – two variants of the NH Industries NH90.
Designed for search and rescue (SAR) missions, the Sea Lion replaced the elderly Sea Kings in the service’s fleet, the last of which were retired in August. The first anti-submarine warfare Sea Tiger is due for delivery in late 2025.
HeliOperations in 2017 began a contract to train German crews on a fleet of former UK Royal Navy (RN) Sea King HU5s.
In all, HeliOperations acquired 19 ex-RN and Royal Air Force Sea Kings – a mixture of Mk3 and Mk5 SAR, and Mk7 airborne surveillance variants.
Both Berlin and London have previously donated surplus Sea Kings to Ukraine, with the UK’s understood to have been former HeliOperations assets.
In a bilateral defence treaty signed by Germany and the UK on 30 October, the two nations agreed to “provide Ukraine with a new offensive capability, supporting fitting German-donated Sea King helicopters with modern missile systems”.
