On Monday, 17 November 2025, the press service of the Belgian Armed Forces announced on social media that the first of the 17 Airbus Helicopters H145M multirole helicopters ordered had completed its maiden flight in Germany.
Photos: Belgian Armed Forces
The maiden flight took place from the airfield of the German branch of Airbus Helicopters in Donauwörth, Bavaria. The aircraft will now enter the evaluation testing phase before its planned handover to the new operator.
Recall that on 17 June 2024, Airbus Helicopters signed a contract with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) for the purchase of these multirole helicopters for Belgium, a decision approved by the Belgian Ministry of Defence on 31 May of the same year.
The new helicopters will formally enter service with the Air Component of the Belgian Armed Forces (Luchtcomponent), where 15 will be used to support special operations forces and medical evacuation, while 2 will be assigned to the Federal Police (Federale Politie). In addition, an option has been retained for the purchase of 3 additional police helicopters.
The new rotorcraft will replace 7 NHI NH90 TTH/NFH and 13 Leonardo AW109 helicopters in the A109BAi version. Initial deliveries are planned for 2027 (instead of 2026), with final deliveries expected in 2028. The procurement budget amounts to 250.82 million EUR. The package includes helicopters, spare parts, essential ground equipment, training for aircrew and ground personnel, and five years of logistical support. In a separate procedure, two FMS-class (Flying Model Simulator) flight simulators will be procured.
The selection of the Airbus Helicopters offer was made on the basis of analyses conducted by the Military Procurement Commission (Commission des achats militaires) in the second half of 2022 on the European and North American markets. On 27 January 2023, press reports appeared indicating the possible purchase of 15 H145Ms. On 8 March 2023, the Military Procurement Commission made its final decision.
Among the arguments in favor of choosing the European helicopters was their complementarity with the H145Ms selected by neighboring Luxembourg and Germany, whose armed forces are close partners of Belgium. The Belgian and German armed forces signed a letter of intent regarding the possible development of bilateral cooperation in the field of special operations. Around 20 H145Ms serve in the Bundeswehr, most of them supporting special forces. Recently, the acquisition of 82 additional units (previously planned as 64) was approved. A similar agreement was reached with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which ordered two H145Ms via the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).
The H145M is a multirole military helicopter capable of performing a wide range of missions. Worldwide, more than 2,000 helicopters from the H145 family have been delivered, accumulating a total of 8 million flight hours. These helicopters are used by armies, air forces, and law enforcement agencies across the globe in the most demanding missions. Powered by two Safran Arriel 2E engines, the H145 is equipped with a Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system. It features Helionix digital avionics, which, combined with innovative flight data management solutions and an efficient four-axis autopilot, significantly reduce pilot workload during missions. Its particularly low acoustic signature makes the H145 the quietest helicopter in its class.
In addition to the operators mentioned above, the militarized H145M variant has been ordered by Ecuador, Serbia, Hungary, Brunei, Ireland, and Cyprus. It is currently being offered to Poland, in cooperation with local industry, within the program to acquire 24 training helicopters as part of an integrated training system for combat helicopter pilots.
The #H145M 🚁 completed its first test flight in Donauwörth 🇩🇪, beginning the evaluation phase ahead of delivery to #Belgium 🇧🇪. This new capability will provide a major boost to our Transport, Medevac, Firefighting and Special Operations Capabilities pic.twitter.com/NHDUl2MepP
— Belgian Defence (@BelgiumDefence) November 17, 2025
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