The German Federal Police (Bundespolizei) has taken delivery of three heavy H215 helicopters, with a fourth to follow in June 2019. The twin-engine multi-role Super Pumas will enter operation at the beginning of 2020 supporting the Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME), which oversees maritime missions off Germany's coast.

“The H215's speed, long-distance performance and high availability rate in harsh conditions are well suited to meet the demanding needs of our maritime team,” states head of the German Federal Police Air Support Thomas Helbig. “We've had a long and successful experience with the versatile Super Puma, and are eager to continue flying them with this new version, the H215, which comes with a state-of-the-art glass cockpit and four-axis autopilot.”

These aircraft will complement the German Federal Police's existing fleet of Airbus Helicopters, which includes 42 H135 family helicopters, 19 Super Pumas (AS332 L1s), 19 H155s and eight H120s.

“Our relationship with the German Federal Police dates back more than five decades to the Alouette II and has grown to include more than 90 Airbus Helicopters today,” says Airbus Helicopters' executive VP Wolfgang Schoder. “We're pleased that Germany continues to place its trust in the Super Puma for its life-saving maritime and police missions.”

The Bundespolizei flies its aircraft 365 days a year performing a wide range of missions such as border protection, railway network control, maritime protection and disaster response, VIP transport and EMS.

Standard features in the H215 include Makila 1A1 engines, a glass cockpit avionics system and four-axis autopilot, which provides flight envelope protection, precision and automatic hover stability in harsh operating conditions.

Airbus Helicopters has nearly 300 law enforcement customers based in 60 countries.