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Jan 13 2020

A step forward towards a National Aviation Component for Luxembourg

On 18 December 2019, the second of the two H-145M helicopters acquired by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) on behalf of the Directorate of Defence was delivered to Luxembourg, as planned.

This milestone occurred at the same time as the first helicopter, delivered in November, reached its Initial Operational Capability (IOC) ahead of the schedule, initially planned for 1 January 2020. This was achieved during the last month of the year, when the Police completed its first surveillance mission using the helicopter over the Luxembourg area on 16 December to search for a missing person.

The path is now cleared for Full Operational Capability by 1 January 2021 with the two helicopters located in Luxembourg Airport.

The helicopters will be initially operated by the Police to conduct law enforcement, surveillance, and search and rescue missions. In addition, the configuration of the helicopters will allow the execution of military operations in the near future.

The delivery of the two helicopters will provide Luxembourg with the necessary assets to acquire a new capability in the air domain, which represents the first step for the creation of a National Aviation component.