Airbus Helicopters has handed over another pair of H145-based Jupiter HC2 utility rotorcraft to the UK armed forces ahead of their deployment ‘in-theatre’ early next year.
Part of an eventual six-strong fleet, the German-built light-twins were delivered from the airframer’s UK completions and modification facility at Oxford airport.
Initially based at the Royal Air Force’s (RAF’s) nearby Benson site, the Jupiter HC2s will eventually be flown by the service’s 84 Sqn in Cyprus and the Army Air Corps’ 667 Sqn in Brunei.
Dating from an April 2024 contract, a first example was handed over in May this year; deliveries are due to complete in May 2026.
Qualification flights for instructors are due to commence “in the coming days”, says the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), before the first aircraft are shipped to Brunei and Cyprus in February and March, respectively.
“All aircraft will be ‘in-theatre’ by the end of June 2026,” the MoD states. In Brunei, they are to be used for jungle warfare training, and for aerial firefighting and emergency response support in Cyprus.
The new helicopters will take on the missions previously performed by the RAF’s now-retired Puma HC2s, which, in turn, were backfilling for Bell 212 and 412 fleets that had earlier been withdrawn from service.
Both the latter types were meant to have been replaced via the New Medium Helicopter procurement, which is chiefly envisaged as delivering a successor to the Puma fleet. The Leonardo Helicopters AW149 is the sole remaining contender for that contract.
Additionally, the MoD has also awarded Airbus Helicopters an initial £33.6 million ($45 million) two-year service and support contract for the new H145s.
A total of 30 jobs are directly supported by the contract: 12 will be based at Airbus in Oxford, 10 in Cyprus and eight in Brunei.
Airbus Helicopters says it has already deployed a team to Brunei to help refurbish the maintenance facility there.
