The army of the Kingdom of Belgium will receive fifteen multirole H145M helicopters, while the Federal Police will receive two helicopters with three choices. Airbus Helicopters and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), acting on behalf of Belgium, signed the agreement.
Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even stated, “We are proud that Belgium is joining the growing community of H145M users.” The sturdy multipurpose helicopter is starting to set the standard in Europe for special operations, medical evacuation flights, and tactical airlift capabilities. We have no doubt that the H145M will soon establish itself as a vital component of Belgium’s defence and security capabilities.
A military helicopter with multiple roles, the H145M can perform a wide range of missions. The helicopter can be quickly and easily converted from a light assault role equipped with guided and axial ballistic weaponry and a cutting-edge self-protection system to a special operations variant with rapid rappelling gear. The all-inclusive mission packages come with external cargo and lifting capabilities. The H145M also offers alternatives for additional communication systems, data linkages, and digitalization of mission capabilities, among other things, enabling future mission capabilities.
The military variant of the well-proven, lightweight twin-engine H145 helicopter is called the H145M. Over seven million flight hours have been completed by the H145 family’s global fleet. For the most difficult tasks, armed and law enforcement agencies employ it all over the world. Eight H145 LUH SAR and sixteen H145M LUH SOF helicopters are currently in use in Germany, and the country has placed an order for up to 82 more of these helicopters. Nearly 500 H145 helicopters are in service with the US Army as UH-72 Lakotas. The H145M is currently operated by Hungary, Serbia, Thailand, and Luxembourg; Brunei and the UK have also placed orders for six aircraft from Cyprus.
The H145M has two Turbomeca Arriel 2E engines putting out power, and full authority digital engine control (FADEC) is installed. Additionally, the helicopter has the Helionix digital avionics suite installed, which features a high-performance 4-axis autopilot in addition to novel flight data management, significantly reducing the strain of the pilot during missions.
