After Cherbourg and Lanvéoc, the new H160 helicopters of the French Navy will take the SPI (Rescue, Protection, Intervention) alert this week on the naval aeronautics base (BAN) of Hyères, in the Var. These machines, armed by the 32F flotilla, will replace the Dauphin of the 35F in this function.
Less than a year after its reactivation on the Lanvéoc-Poulmic BAN, on June 29, 2023, the 32F flotilla completed its deployment with its third and final location, in Hyères, on the Mediterranean coast. On Thursday June 27, a ceremony will officially mark the handover of SPI alert from 35F to 32F. “The rescue, protection and intervention (SPI) alert is a French Navy system that ensures maritime security in the area via naval aviation assets maintained on alert 24 hours a day. Also called SAR alert (search and rescue), this mission was that of the 35F flotilla on the Mediterranean coast for 26 years,” explains the French Navy.
The 32F is equipped with six new H160 helicopters, leased from a consortium bringing together Airbus Helicopters, Babcock and Safran. Lasting 10 years, the contract was notified at the end of 2019 as part of the creation of an interim fleet of helicopters while awaiting the arrival of the future Guépard Marine, deliveries of which will not begin before 2029. After their leaving the Airbus Helicopters final assembly line in Marignane then their adaptation to the needs of the French Navy on the Babcock site in Cannet-des-Maures, the H160s were delivered between November 2022 and February 2024. The first operational detachment for rescue missions at sea was that of Cherbourg-Maupertus, where an H160 took over on July 21, 2023 from the Caïman Marine (NH90) of the 33F which was stationed at the tip of Cotentin. The switch between the two types of machines for SAR missions then took place on December 14 at Lanvéoc-Poulmic.
Of the six H160s now available to naval aeronautics, one is stationed in Cherbourg-Maupertus, two in Hyères and the others in Lanvéoc-Poulmic, where the 32F is based.
In total, 13 modifications have been made compared to the civilian version of the H160, including the integration of military communications, a Safran Euroflir 410S optronic ball, armour plates, a console for an operator in the cabin and a medical wall for medical evacuations. The aircraft are also capable of night flights with the use of night vision goggles.
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