US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Air and Marine Operations (AMO) will enhance its patrol and surveillance capabilities with the addition of 16 new Airbus H125 helicopters.

The new aircraft will enable AMO to achieve its mission of protecting the nation's borders, helping combat drug smuggling and performing life-saving search and rescue missions. Over the past 30 years, Airbus has delivered more than 100 helicopters, both H125 family and H120 to CBP.

“Our teams are proud to build helicopters right here in the U.S. that play a critical role in protecting our country,” says Romain Trapp, president of Airbus Helicopters and head of the North America region. “For many law enforcement and parapublic agencies, the H125 has become an indispensable tool in the air to support operations on the ground.”

Deliveries of the new H125s to Customs and Border Protection will begin later this year. The aircraft will be equipped with infrared detection systems, thermal imaging cameras, night-vision goggles, hoist capabilities and loudspeakers.

Airbus builds the H125 at its industrial facility in Columbus, Missouri., where a workforce made up of 40 percent US veterans also produces the UH-72A Lakota for the US Army.