Airbus concludes H145M deliveries to Ecuador Air Force

The last three of six H145M were handed over to the Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana on 20 April 2021, completing the deliveries of all six. The crews have been trained in Bavaria by Airbus.

Escuadron 2211 Cobras, part of Ala 22 Guayaquil, are now ready to operate them.

The contract for the six H145Ms was concluded on 27 November 2019. The FAE had the Indian HAL Dhruv on strength, but these were all withdrawn from use in 2015. Mid 2019, Ecuador started a search for a new helicopter that could replace the Dhruvs.

While test flying and training in Germany at Airbus' Donauworth, Augsburg and Manching-Ingolstadt facilities, as well as visiting Memmingen and Oberpfaffenhofen, their military identities were taped over.

Scramble Magazine believes the following six H145Ms are involved:

FAE-1251 (c/n 20347) test registration D-HBTS
FAE-1252 (c/n 20349) test registration D-HADT
FAE-1253 (c/n 20355) test registration D-HADN
FAE-1254 (c/n 20356) test registration D-HADP
FAE-1255 (c/n 20357) test registration D-HADE
FAE-1256 (c/n 20358) test registrations D-HCBW, D-HBKG

The first two were used for training at Manching-Ingolstadt after being handed over on 27 October 2020. In fact, all six were still seen in Germany recently, either late March or mid-April. The helicopters will leave for Ecuador soon now.

Photo by Dietmar Fenners (Scramble Archive)