Oxford, United Kingdom, January 10, 2024 – Airbus Helicopters has signed a firm contract with the Republic of Ireland Department of Defence to acquire four H145M helicopters.
The H145M, a new type in Irish military service, will be used to expand the operational capabilities of the Irish Air Corps on a variety of defence and security tasks.
The H145M is the military version of the proven twin-engine H145 helicopter which recently passed the eight million flight hours mark globally. It is configured with HForce, the weapon management system developed by Airbus Helicopters, and can carry weapons including machine guns, rockets and missiles.
The helicopter is equipped with the Helionix digital avionics suite and a high-performance 4-axis autopilot which makes for low pilot workload allowing crews to focus on the mission at hand. The current version has a five-bladed bearingless main rotor resulting in enhanced performance and contributing to the H145M’s class-leading low acoustic footprint.