The German federal police (Bundespolizei) has signed a contract with Airbus Helicopters for the purchase of three H215 multi-role rotorcraft via the purchasing administration of the German Federal Ministry of Interior .

The aircraft will be tasked with a number of challenging roles, among them maritime emergencies and police missions. The helicopters are scheduled for delivery in early 2019.

The Bundespolizei currently operates 19 helicopters of the Super Puma family. The aircraft are flown 365 days a year in missions as diverse as the transport of personnel over large distances and under difficult weather conditions, e.g. VIP transport, complex search and rescue missions and disaster relief operations. For each mission the helicopters need to be converted extremely quickly as high availability is key for conducting successful operations.

“We are very proud of our long track record of successful cooperation with the Bundespolizei,” said Wolfgang Schoder, CEO of Airbus Helicopters Germany. “The H215 is exactly the right solution to meet the demanding mission requirements of national police forces.”

The heavy-weight, twin-engine H215 helicopter is a member of the Super Puma family, designed to operate in a variety of missions such as aerial work with internal and external loads, law enforcement, medical evacuation, SAR, and humanitarian missions. It combines advanced avionics with a reliable platform, offering outstanding performance for long-distance flights, high speed, excellent payload capacity and very good lifting performance. The aircraft is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art equipment. This includes a glass cockpit and the new 4-axis autopilot, which provides flight envelope protection, unrivalled precision, and stability in even the harshest operating conditions.

Airbus Helicopters is the global market leader for police helicopters: it has delivered close to 50 percent of these helicopters in the last ten years. Around 300 customers based in 60 countries have been operating Airbus Helicopters rotorcraft for law-enforcement missions for decades.