Brisbane, 1 September 2021 – The Western Australian Premier and Treasurer, Mark McGowan has announced the purchase of a second H145 helicopter to strengthen police operations in Western Australia. This makes the WA Police Force the only law enforcement jurisdiction in the southern hemisphere to operate two new state-of-the-art Airbus five-bladed H145 helicopters.
Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan said at a media conference earlier today: "Our police helicopters provide vital support to police operations across the state, and the addition of two new H145 helicopters will boost police capability to respond to emergencies and crime challenges."
The second H145 is to replace the existing AS365 helicopter for WA Police Force, and will generate operational efficiencies, platform commonality and a greater number of available annual flight hours with a fleet of two identical aircraft.
Police Minister Paul Papalia said "On the ground and in the skies, we're ensuring our police have a strong presence to keep our community safe. These new helicopters will be fitted with the latest avionics equipment and be able to deploy more rapidly than our existing aircraft."
The new H145 offers a full range of capabilities for the WA Police Force, including single-pilot and instrument flight rules, along with night vision goggles capability. When these aircraft capabilities are integrated with the on-board police mission system, the H145 is the perfect law enforcement partner to the WA Police Force across all its airborne missions. This is complemented with Airbus' Helionix avionics suite and 4-axis autopilot, significantly reducing crew workload and underpinning flight safety. For exclusive use by the WA Police Force, both H145 helicopters will be based in Perth, servicing the entire State of Western Australia.
"We are honoured by the WA Police Force's continued trust in our products to support their critical operations. The H145 is well regarded as a reference law enforcement helicopter, and being able to support the WA Police Force with an H145 fleet, configured to include their mobile policing command post, is something that Airbus is extremely proud to be part of," said Andrew Mathewson, Managing Director, Airbus Australia Pacific.
With a lower environmental footprint compared to its peers, the H145 sets the standard in carbon emission and sound levels for its class. It also has an availability rate of up to 95%, positively impacting aircraft readiness and cost.
This second new H145 will soon join a large fleet of more than 300 Airbus helicopters flying in the country.
