The Peruvian Air Force is close to renewing its SAR helicopter fleet

Leonardo, Airbus Helicopters and Bell Textron are competing for an eventual USD 193 million contract to supply the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) with 12 new search and rescue helicopters.

The new units will replace the FAP’s current SAR Bell 212 and MBB BO 105 helicopter fleet.

The General Directorate of Logistics (DIGLO) of the Peruvian Air Force and the Air Group No. 3, based in Callao, are responsible for carrying out the comparative technical study between Leonardo’s AW139M, Airbus Helicopters’ H145 and the Bell 412 EXP of the American manufacturer.

See also: Airbus conducts a demo tour of Colombia of its five-blade H145

According to the newspaper La República, military sources consulted indicate that the AW 139M model of the Italian company Leonardo is in the lead, having achieved the highest score. In second place is the Airbus H145 and finally the Bell 412 EXP.

Aspects evaluated

Among the different technical aspects evaluated by the FAP, three of the most relevant were the maximum flight altitude, range and speed of each aircraft. According to the information shared with the Peruvian newspaper, the results would be as follows:

Maximum flight altitude (of great importance given the high orography of the Andean country):

1. AW139M: 16.00 feet (4876 m)
2. H145: 13,500 feet (4114 m)
3. Bell 412 EXP: 13,000 feet (3962 m)

Maximum range (with two crew, 500kg of cargo and no auxiliary tanks):

1. AW139M: 520 nm (963 km)
2. H145: 425 nm (787 km)
3. Bell 412 EXP: 332 nm (614 km)

Cruising speed (essential for any rescue operation):

1. AW139M: 150 kt (277 km/h)
2. H145: 133 kt (246 km/h)
3. Bell 412 EXP: 122 kt (226 km/h)

In total, the FAP would have evaluated 25 technical requirements, with the AW139M meeting 92%, the H145 89.9% and the Bell 412 EXP 82%.

Price

As revealed by the military sources (on condition of anonymity), the manufacturers submitted the following bids:

Unit price:

1. AW139M: USD 16.4 million
2. H145: USD 13.4 million
3. Bell 412 EXP: USD 11.9 million

Once this first stage of the comparative technical evaluation is concluded, the process will be handed over to the Armed Forces Procurement Agency, which will oversee requesting additional technical and economic information from the construction companies (for example, ways and means of financing). It will also be necessary to negotiate aspects related to pilot and technical personnel training, logistic support contracts and eventual offsets, before determining the winner.