Eurocopter Romania has presented three helicopters to the Romanian Ministry of Interior, at its plant in Brasov. Two are equipped for police missions and one for emergency medical service. They are considered to be decisive elements in meeting European requirements in the field of police and air rescue missions.

In addition, Eurocopter and Eurocopter-Romania signed an agreement to implement a helicopter assembly line for the EC135. State secretary Nicolae Bercheret and other high-ranking political representatives attended the official ceremony.

The Romanian government’s 135s will replace its predecessors, the Mi8 and Mi17 by the end of this year.

Two further EC135 helicopters will complete the fleet in the near future.

Eurocopter says, in accordance with the customer’s wishes, the aircraft were tailored exactly to the mission requirements of modern police and air rescue forces. The helicopters were built in cooperation with Eurocopter Germany and Eurocopter Romania.

“Today’s presentation is an excellent example of European-Romanian industrial Cupertino,” said Eurocopter’s senior executive vp Philippe Harache, at the mid-November presentation ceremony.

“We are more than happy to have Romania on our side as a very reliable partner who enabled us to access what we consider to be a very promising emerging market and area for aviation technology.”

Harache also signed an agreement with the chairman of the board of Eurocopter-Romania, Ion Georgics, to build an assembly line for the EC135 in Brasov.

The EC135 is a twin-engine multipurpose helicopter with a takeoff weight of 2,835 kilograms. In its police version, it has a crew of two pilots and one operator, who controls the various surveillance elements.

In its emergency medical service configuration, the EC135 has enough cabin space for up to four crew members. The accompanying physician has a rotating seat, enabling him to attend to his patients.

The cabin is accessible through extra large doors from both sides, as well as from the rear. The EC 135 first entered commercial service in 1996.