The first EC145 was officially handed over to the directorate of the French Gendarmerie in a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Gendarmerie central flight training academy at Villacoublay.

The Gendarmerie has ordered eight EC145 helicopters to replace the Alouette III helicopters, which have now been in service for nearly 40 years. Said a spokesman: “The EC145 was chosen because it was the most capable of satisfying the requirements of the assigned missions in terms of availability and the extended operating conditions.”

The EC145 will chiefly be operated by the units responsible for mountain rescue operations, in particular

the PGHM (Gendarmerie high-altitude mountain rescue unit) or by the GIGN (Gendarmerie rapid intervention squad), whose EC145 will be stationed at Villacoublay. Jointly designed with Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) in Japan, the EC145’s cabin is configurable in several layouts, and carries up to nine passengers and a pilot.

Eurocopter says the EC145 has a low noise signature that on average is 6.7 dB below the ICAO requirements for the aircraft in its category.