San Diego to acquire new police helicopters
The council of San Diego, California, has approved plans to lease three new H125 rotorcraft on behalf of the city’s police department
The new aircraft will be leased under a deal expected to cost approximately $18 million, and will replace three older Airbus AS350 B3 helicopters currently in use with San Diego Police Department (SDPD).
The City Council unanimously approved the purchase of the new helicopters on 1 August. The city previously bought a single H125 on behalf of the SDPD in 2020, which is currently in service.
The new helicopters are expected to offer improved safety and navigation systems compared with the ones they are due to replace.
The new aircraft are also expected to significantly reduce the frequency and cost of maintenance. Costs have been rising in recent years, to an annual cost of around $1.6 million, according to a report by the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, while the older aircraft have been out of operation for repairs with increasing frequency.
The Board of Supervisors of San Diego County also approved the purchase of a Bell 412 EPX firefighting helicopter in April of last year.