Lithuania Orders Three H145 Helicopters From Airbus For Border Guard Service
At the European Rotors 2023 expo in Madrid last week, the Lithuanian government signed a contract with Airbus Helicopters for three five-bladed H145 multi-purpose helicopters. This deal comes on the heels of Airbus selling two H125 helicopters to a commercial operator in Lithuania. The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service will operate H145 helicopters, according to a statement issued by Airbus Helicopters’ press service. However, the company made no statement about the contract price or delivery timeline.
When the three new multi-purpose H145 helicopters are delivered to the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service, they will be used for a variety of missions such as search and rescue, disaster relief and medical evacuation, border patrol, firefighting, and operational deployment of Lithuanian special forces. The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service currently employs five Eurocopter helicopters of three different models that it purchased from Airbus between 2002 and 2006 for these kinds of missions.
Speaking about the agreement, Lithuanian Minister of The Interior Agné Bilotaité said, “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. 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.”
Airbus Helicopters Executive Vice President of Global Business Olivier Michalon said:
“We are honored 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. 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 organization and to contribute to essential security missions in order to protect and serve the population of Lithuania and to make Europe safer.”
The H-145 is a twin-engine light utility helicopter based on the Eurocopter EC145. Depending on the needs of the user, Airbus’ H145 family has several variants. The D3 standard, which is also preferred by Lithuania, is the most recent version of Airbus’ H145 family. The main difference between the new H145, which entered service in 2020, and previous variants is that it has a 5-blade main rotor system instead of four. In addition, the new H145 helicopter has a lower D value (the largest overall dimension when the rotors are turning) and an additional 150 kg lifting capacity over previous variants.
The H145 is powered by two Safran Arriel 2E engines, each managed by dual full authority digital engine control (FADEC). The reliability of the twin engines is further improved by a fully separated fuel supply system, a duplex hydraulic system, a dual electrical system, and redundant lubrication for the main transmission. As a result, the H145 can reach a top speed of 225 km/h and has a range of 650 km. The helicopter can also reach a flying altitude of over 2,700m (8,858 ft) and stay airborne for three and a half hours.