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Airbus Helicopters: Making every mission count

Sponsored Content | October 28, 2024

Estimated reading time 9 minutes, 29 seconds.

Airbus helicopters support operators across the globe, enabling them to reach any destination and perform their essential missions in the most demanding conditions. Our customers are at the heart of lifesaving efforts — rebuilding damaged areas, protecting citizens, and providing communities with access to vital public services. To achieve this, they need bespoke vertical-lift solutions, paired with the highest levels of performance and safety.

Anthony Pecchi Photo

Supporting first responders

When first responders are called to action, Airbus helicopters assist them as they follow through the different steps of disaster management missions, from damage assessment to reconstruction efforts.

With a major increase in natural disasters the world over, Airbus helicopters keep proving their worth. For instance, U.S.-based operator Precision relies on an innovative pairing to put out fires, using both the Super Puma’s robust design and the lightweight, high-endurance tactical unmanned aerial system Flexrotor.

Thierry Rostang Photo

This one-of-a-kind combination of aerial assets enables firefighters to assess the extent of a fire and provide crucial information to all teams involved. For surveillance and rescue operations, customers can benefit from the H135 and H145’s unrivaled precision, while the H215 can drop up to 4,000 liters (1,060 US gallons) of water on the scene, excelling in day and night operations.

Airbus helicopters can be mobilized as part of reconstruction efforts, performing search-and-rescue missions, bringing water, food and medical supplies, or transporting qualified personnel to the zone.

Through the Airbus Foundation, organizations can receive in-kind support and access to Airbus’s portfolio of products, services, know-how and people. In this context, the United Nations’ World Food Programme relies on the H215 and H225 to perform passenger and cargo transportation missions in remote areas of Nigeria or Burkina Faso.

The H225 is also popular among national forces, as it can be used for a variety of public service and security missions. The German Federal Police recently ordered up to 44 H225s, dedicated to conducting law enforcement and homeland security missions, ranging from special forces transport to firefighting and disaster relief.

Here when you need it

With more than eight million flight hours under its belt, the H145 is a trusted partner for European and North American air ambulances. Earlier this year, DRF Luftrettung expanded its fleet with up to 10 H145s, dedicated to emergency rescue and intensive care transport. The rotorcraft can accommodate up to two wheeled stretchers with partial or full suites of medical equipment for operation by three to five medical personnel, making for an optimized configuration when lives are at stake.

The H160 is not to be left aside when it comes to saving lives. Memorial Hermann Life Flight has become the H160’s world first medical services operator, relying on the rotorcraft to bring patients to safety and administer medical attention.

Alongside the H145, the H160 will serve the community within a 150-mile (240-kilometer) radius of the Texas Medical Center in Houston, thanks to the largest cabin in its class, sliding doors, flat attitude in flight, and Blue Edge rotor blades, making it the quietest helicopter in its class and providing a more comfortable experience for patients and health care professionals.

Innovating for today and tomorrow

In a second major milestone for the H160, the rotorcraft entered into service in the U.S. after Airbus delivered the first H160 in the country to PHI. The helicopter will be used in a route-proving program to demonstrate its capabilities in the demanding offshore environment. The rotorcraft’s lower fuel consumption compared to other helicopters of the same class, its unobstructed, spacious cabin, and high-visibility glass cockpit are bound to set a new standard for offshore operations across the country.

Dianne Bond Photo

Airbus keeps moving forward with the preparation of tomorrow’s range. The integration of the Flexrotor to Airbus’s portfolio is an important step, as customers can now benefit from various complementary drone solutions that can be operated jointly with their helicopter fleet.

The Racer reached a new record in the quest to find the best trade-off between speed, cost-efficiency, and mission performance. Optimized for a cruise speed of 400 km/h (250 mph), the rotorcraft reached 420 km/h (260 mph) in June 2024, after just seven flights and nine hours of flight testing in its original configuration.

The Racer also targets a fuel consumption reduction of around 20 percent compared to current generation helicopters in the same maximum take-off weight category, thanks to aerodynamic optimization and an innovative eco-mode propulsion system. The demonstrator will progress alongside Airbus Helicopters’ three flying laboratories — the DisruptiveLab, the FlightLab and the PioneerLab — in advancing on Airbus’s decarbonization journey.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Elliot Schaudt

Supporting those who fly our helicopters

Through the HCare Initial, HCare In-Service and HCare Lifetime offers, Airbus customers can benefit from custom support packages, with heightened flexibility and adaptability throughout the lifecycle of their fleet.

Airbus keeps investing to address supply chain challenges the industry continues to face. Working capital for spare and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) parts has been significantly increased. Additionally, the new multi-purpose test bench for dynamic components, installed at Airbus Helicopters in Grand Prairie, Texas, in 2023, is now in use, helping decrease turnaround time for customers by doubling the facility’s testing capacity for main gearboxes.

Training also remains a strong focus of Airbus Helicopters’ support and services offer, with a greater choice of courses, tailored trainee experience and enhanced digitalization. Through HMotion, a new simulator training center based in Germany, customers will be able to access three full-flight simulators, as well as a wide range of cost-effective training courses for operators of the H135 and H145 family helicopters, including mission and critical flight training.

Lloyd Horgan Photo

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