Airbus Helicopters has unveiled a new version of its H145 light twin-engine helicopter. This latest upgrade brings a new five-bladed rotor to the multi-mission rotorcraft, increasing its useful load by 150 kg while delivering new levels of comfort, simplicity and connectivity.

CEO Bruno Even says: “Our teams have worked hard to quickly bring to the market a set of innovations that we believe will contribute to the success of our customers' operations. It is their trust in the H145 and all its predecessor variants over the last decades that have made it the fantastic helicopter it has become today, and I want to thank them for their continuous support.”

The new five-bladed rotor brings a significant increase in overall performance, with maximum take off weight raised to 3,800 kg and a useful load now equivalent to the aircraft's empty weight. The simplicity of the new bearingless main rotor design will also ease maintenance operations, further improving its benchmark serviceability and reliability while improving ride comfort for both passengers and crew. The reduced rotor diameter will allow operation in more confined areas.

There are new levels of onboard connectivity to customers and operators through the integration of the wireless Airborne Communication System (wACS), allowing seamless and secure transmission of data generated by the helicopter in real time, including in-flight.

EASA certification is planned for early 2020 with first deliveries to follow later that year. The upgrade will also be offered to current H145 customers as a retrofit option in order to deliver the same improvements in terms of useful load, simplified maintenance and comfort to the existing version.

Powered by two Safran Arriel 2E engines, the H145 is equipped with full authority digital engine control (FADEC) and the Helionix digital avionics suite. It includes a high performance four-axis autopilot, increasing safety and reducing pilot workload. It has a particularly low acoustic footprint.