Belgium officially selects H145M
On 17 June 2024, Airbus Helicopters announced that Belgium has officially selected the H145M. In total, fifteen will be procured for the Air Force, and two more for the Federal Police. The deal also includes options on three more H145Ms for the Federal Police.
The Belgian parliament approved the acquisition at the end of May 2024. According to the decision communication, the H145Ms will be used to replace the current fleet of fifteen Augusta A109BAis.
In February 2023, Scramble reported that the H145Ms would also be used to replace the Army's fleet of four NH90-TTHs, which has proven to be difficult and expensive to maintain and operate. This is not the case anymore and there are plans to replace these with a larger helicopter. A decision on this will be made later.
The Federal Police is currently operating a fleet of two MD520Ns and five MD902s. Two of the MD902s are vintage 1997-aircraft, and will be, most likely, the first to be replaced.
The H145M is the militarized version of the H145-helicopter. It can be used in a light-attack role but also quickly converted to conduct special forces operations. It has been quite a sales success with Germany operating 24 H145Ms and has 82 more on order. The US Army has almost 500 service as the UH-72 Lakota. Other operators of the type are Hungary, Luxembourg, Serbia and Thailand.
Photo by Airbus Helicopters.