Date: 08 Feb 2004
Time: 21:50
The Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, The Honorable Stanislav Gross, has dedicated, in Prague, the first of a total of eight EC 135 light twin helicopters to service the Czech Police Aviation Department. This first aircraft will be used for helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) missions. In line with the Czech Republic's ‘Integrated Rescue System’ for the country's rescue and security services (HEMS, police, fire fighting, mountain rescue and SAR), three of the eight EC 135s will be HEMS-equipped, four are tailored for police missions such as surveillance, anti-terrorist and crime-fighting engagements, and one will be reserved for flexible-response, ‘universal-mission’ operations with quick interchangeability of interiors and equipment. Two more will be delivered in 2004, two in 2005 and one each in 2006, 2007 and 2008. According to Dr. Vladimir Panenka, Director of the Czech Police Aviation Dept. (CPAD), the Turbomeca Arrius 2B2-equipped EC 135 was selected from several competing offers for its unique multi-role capability, the availability of a wide range of certified optional equipment, and proven track record with law enforcement agencies and HEMS operators around the world. Special equipment chosen by the CPAD includes FLIR Ultraforce II (Leo II) thermal cameras, SX16 Nightsun searchlights, dual cargo hooks and the EADS-Dornier DKG4 moving map system. The purchase contract for the eight EC 135s was signed in August 2003 through Omnipol a.s. in Prague and includes a comprehensive offset programme to the benefit of the CPAD and other Czech companies. Markus Steinke, Eurocopter's EC 135 programme manager, stated that the Central and East European markets are of major strategic importance to Eurocopter. The Czech Republic's order, the recent opening of an EC 135 production line at the company's subsidiary in Romania, coupled with a Romanian police and HEMS order for a total of five EC 135s, as well as first deliveries of EC 120s to law enforcement agencies in the Baltic States, underline the readiness of these nations to close the technology gap to Western Europe, he said.