South Africa Police Service to acquire new helicopter
The aircraft is being procured on behalf of the nationwide police force by the state-owned Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor)
Armscor, the South African government’s military procurement agency, is seeking to acquire a “troop carrying helicopter” on behalf of the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The agency ran a tender for the aircraft between 12 February and 5 March, but has not yet announced a winning bid.
According to a report by military magazine defenceWeb, the helicopter must be supplied by either an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or an authorized supplier, and will be delivered to the South African Police Service Air Wing heliport in Pretoria.
The tender also specified that the helicopter must be of a twin-turbine design, and certified for operation by a single pilot in both visual flight rules (VFR) and instrument flight rules (IFR) conditions.
The rotorcraft must also be capable of carrying at least eight passengers for at least three hours, with a 20-minute reserve, with a maximum speed of at least 240km/h and a range of 648km.
The city of Tijuana, Mexico, announced the purchase a new police helicopter of its own earlier this month.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.