Babcock Australasia has been awarded an eight-year, A$250 million ($166 million) contract to supply a pair of Airbus Helicopters H145s, plus their crews, to the Australian Border Force for operation in the Torres Strait.

To be based at Horn Island, situated off Australia’s north coast between the mainland and Papua New Guinea, the two H145s will be used to combat multiple maritime security threats, including illegal fishing, illegal immigration and marine pollution.

H145 ABF-c-Airbus Helicopters

Source: Airbus Helicopters

Pair of five-bladed H145s will be based on Horn Island

Babcock expects the helicopters will be in service from September 2026. They will be fitted with an electro-optical/infrared camera, hoist, bespoke mission management system and long-range fuel tanks.

Airbus Helicopters’ specifications show that with the auxiliary tanks installed the H145 can carry almost 900kg of fuel against a baseline figure of 723kg.

Babcock will also recruit 16 new staff, including pilots, surveillance crew and engineers to support the contract

Dominic Perry is Aerospace Editor, Europe contributing extensively to flightglobal.com. Although specialising in the coverage of the helicopter industry, he has written on most topics in aerospace – be they commercial, defence or business aviation. In addition, there has been an increasing focus on the decarbonisation of the industry and zero-emission flight initiatives. He also helps to edit Flight International.View full Profile

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