Spain's purchase of 13 new Airbus H135 military helicopters and its shocking announcement

For some time now, military equipment acquisitions in Spain have been carried out in a way that should not be normal.

The H135 P3H Nival helicopters of the Spanish Navy seen very closely
The Spanish Navy shows its new H135 P3H Nival helicopters in action

I was just watching this video recently published by Fly By Wire Aviation (a YouTube channel I recommend you subscribe to) about Spain's purchase of 13 new Airbus H135 military helicopters, specifically 12 for the Air Force and one for the Navy (the video is in Spanish; you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

The detail that caught my attention is that, as the video points out, this acquisition was made through a contract without advertising (something already common) claiming that Airbus Helicopters (the company that manufactures the H135) "is the only one technically qualified for the development of the project from a technical point of view and improvements of interest to the administration have been negotiated. The quotation marks are taken from the announcement published on the State Procurement Platform (see PDF) this Monday, which puts the value of this contract at 237 million euros.

The question that comes to mind after reading this is obvious: Is Airbus the only company capable of making a helicopter like this? First of all, I want to say that I think the H135 is an excellent helicopter, and it's an honor to know that these aircraft are manufactured in Spain. Obviously, there are industrial and political reasons for prioritizing Airbus in Spain's defense contracts, since a large part of the money invested in these aircraft will result in jobs in our country.

However, that fact does not justify contracts awarded without public notice that are misleading. Of course, Airbus Helicopters is not the only company capable of building a military helicopter that can perform the functions of the H135. For example, the Italian company Leonardo manufactures the AW139, which is a bestseller. If we turn to American helicopters, Sikorsky has the excellent UH-60 Black Hawk (and its corresponding naval versions), and Bell has the UH-1Y Venom, to name just two.

Of course, I'm sure there are technical reasons for choosing the H135 over other helicopters, but that's what tenders are for: so we can learn about those advantages publicly, which is what's expected in a democratic country. What should be abnormal in a democracy is opacity, also in the purchase of military equipment, since we're talking about light helicopters, not a stealth fighter with secret components. In fact, contracts without public notice prevent us from knowing what's being prioritized: the national interest, the aircraft's performance, or other things they don't want to make public? In a country with a growing problem of political corruption, shedding light on this last point should be especially important.

---

Main photo: Ejército del Aire.