What's next for the latest UK MoD H135 order?
During the 1970s, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) placed various orders for in total 212 Gazelle AH1 helicopters. By October 2021, only eighteen were still in active service. Five were assigned to 7 Regiment for training duties, while the rest was assigned to 665sq at Aldergrove in Northern Ireland.
In October 2021, it was decided to replace the helicopters with 665sq by five Airbus H135 helicopters, with an option for another three. This was done as part of Project Matcha, which was launched late-2019.
However, in February 2023, it became known that the H135s will never be taken on strength by the British military. The security situation in Northern Ireland is judged to have improved to the level that an aerial reconnaissance and surveillance unit is no longer needed by the Army Air Corps.
The MoD is currently considering other options for the five helicopters which were already produced by Airbus Helicopters at their Donauwörth (Germany) facility and delivered to Airbus United Kingdom at Oxford/Kidlington. Options under consideration are to sell or lease them back to Airbus Helicopters, or to transfer them to the National Police Air Service.
Pending a decision the helicopters are placed in long-term storage with the Aircraft Maintenance & Storage Unit (AM&SU) at RAF Shawbury.
The MoD never allocated military serials to the H135s, and all are currently registered in the British civil aviation register:
Photo by Maik Voigt (via www.jetphotos.com)