{"id":63836,"date":"2026-03-07T23:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T22:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=63836"},"modified":"2026-03-14T22:05:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T21:05:34","slug":"the-qualities-of-the-h145m-chosen-to-be-the-main-helicopter-of-the-spanish-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/03\/07\/the-qualities-of-the-h145m-chosen-to-be-the-main-helicopter-of-the-spanish-army\/","title":{"rendered":"The qualities of the H145M, chosen to be the main helicopter of the Spanish Army"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Spanish Army's Airmobile Forces (FAMET) are undergoing a profound renewal of their aircraft.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/02\/23\/the-bhela-i-and-the-ec-665-tiger-had-e-attack-helicopters-of-the-spanish-army\/\">The BHELA I and the EC-665 Tiger HAD-E attack helicopters of the Spanish Army<\/a><\/rel><br \/>\n<rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/12\/18\/spain-buys-100-military-helicopters-from-airbus-including-50-h145ms-for-the-famet\/\">Spain buys 100 military helicopters from Airbus, including 50 H145Ms for the FAMET<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n<p>On December 18, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/12\/18\/spain-buys-100-military-helicopters-from-airbus-including-50-h145ms-for-the-famet\/\">Airbus confirmed Spain's purchase of 100 military helicopters from the European company<\/a>. This is the largest purchase of rotary-wing aircraft in the country's history. <strong>The order will include aircraft for all three branches of the Armed Forces, with the Army being the largest recipient<\/strong> of the various models included in this enormous batch.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55133477207_71c2df4949_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55133477207_5182e8daf0_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Once deliveries are completed, <strong>taking into account the retirement of the AB-212s, AS-332 Super Pumas and AS-532 Cougars<\/strong> in the coming years, and unless there are further unannounced changes, <strong>the future FAMET fleet would consist of 140 helicopters:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>16 light helicopters<\/strong> Airbus Helicopters H135.<\/li>\n<li><strong>18 heavy helicopters<\/strong> Boeing CH-47F Chinook.<\/li>\n<li><strong>18 attack helicopters<\/strong> Eurocopter EC-665 Tigre HAD-E.<\/li>\n<li><strong>38 middle transport helicopters<\/strong> NHIndustries NH90.<\/li>\n<li><strong>50 light multipurpose helicopters<\/strong> Airbus Helicopters H145M.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As we can see, <strong>the H145M will be the main helicopter of the FAMET<\/strong>, becoming a worthy successor to an excellent multi-purpose helicopter operated years ago by the Spanish Army: the German MBB B\u00f6-105. In fact, the H145M is an evolution of the MBB\/Kawasaki BK 117, the replacement for the B\u00f6-105. <strong>The H145M is based on a civilian model, the H145, which is currently Airbus's best-selling helicopter.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55134760010_308d2b5c0c_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55134760010_9156fba7ea_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Civilian customers of this helicopter give us an indication of its versatility.<\/strong> Just as with the B\u00f6-105, the H145 is proving successful with <strong>police, border and coast guard forces<\/strong> in various countries (it already has a total of 39 operators in this field), as well as in <strong>rescue and ambulance services<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55134549708_31e1853d54_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55134549708_4ac8b43c3a_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The H145M, the military version, has already been selected by 14 countries for their armed forces, including the United States, its largest operator<\/strong>, where this model has received an order for 479 units for the Army, designated UH-72A Lakota, in addition to 5 units for the Navy. <strong>In Europe, the largest customer for the H145M is Germany, which has ordered 106 units for its Armed Forces<\/strong> (80 for the Army and 26 for the Air Force). With this order, <strong>Spain is now the third largest buyer of this military helicopter.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55133477197_d3ca9de7f2_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55133477197_758d25024a_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It's understandable that this aircraft is a sales success. <strong>The H145M can be used for various missions:<\/strong> military pilot training, medical evacuation, special operations, and light attack, among others. <strong>Thanks to Airbus's HForce system, the H145M can be converted into an armed helicopter<\/strong> with air-to-surface missiles, 68mm and 70mm rockets, a 20mm cannon, and 12.7mm machine guns, in addition to air-to-air weaponry.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55134475931_6648ae2de3_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55134475931_604d9e4ced_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, <strong>the H145M can be fitted with machine guns for ground support on its side doors<\/strong>, thanks to spigot mounts. As we recently saw, <strong>the FAMET's 1st Attack Helicopter Battalion (BHELA I), which operates EC-665 Tiger HAD-E attack helicopters<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/02\/23\/the-bhela-i-and-the-ec-665-tiger-had-e-attack-helicopters-of-the-spanish-army\/\">will be reinforced with the new H145Ms<\/a> in light attack missions and also in the transport of ground personnel.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55134602379_6edc50d505_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55134602379_0be8589a1f_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>One of the standout features of the H145M is that it is one of the quietest helicopters on the market<\/strong>, thanks to its four-bladed rotor design and its two 894 hp Turbomeca Arriel 2E engines, which also have other additional advantages, such as <strong>easy maintenance, high power and low consumption<\/strong>, offering a maximum speed of 268 km\/h, a range of 650 km, a service ceiling of 20,000 feet (6,096 meters), a very good climb rate of 8.1 meters per second and <strong>excellent performance in high temperature and altitude conditions<\/strong>. These characteristics, especially their silent nature and affiliation, led Germany to dedicate the Luftwaffe's 26 H145Ms to support missions for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/04\/26\/the-museum-of-the-kommando-spezialkrafte-ksk-the-special-forces-of-the-german-army\/\">Kommando Spezialkr\u00e4fte (KSK)<\/a>, the special forces of the German Army.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55133585737_04d409a157_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55133585737_5866b665d4_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Like other current models, <strong>the H145M is equipped with a glass cockpit featuring digital displays compatible with night vision goggles<\/strong>, enabling this helicopter to perform missions at night or in very poor visibility conditions. Furthermore, <strong>the H145M is equipped with VMF data links<\/strong> (a format primarily used by ground military units) <strong>and Link 16<\/strong> (also used by air and naval military platforms), which contributes to improved situational awareness for the aircraft's crews on the battlefield.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55134868915_c558984d38_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55134868915_c1ccd7f40d_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The H145M can transport up to 10 fully equipped soldiers<\/strong> (half the capacity of a larger NH90), in addition to its two pilots. As with other Airbus models, <strong>access to the troop compartment is via two sliding side doors, and there are also two rear doors<\/strong> that allow for the loading of a stretcher during medical evacuation missions. For rescue missions, <strong>a crane can be installed on one of the side doors<\/strong>. Furthermore, the helicopter is equipped with a cargo hook on its underside that <strong>can lift up to 1,600 kg using slings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>---<\/p>\n<p><small>Photos: Airbus.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Spanish Army&#8217;s Airmobile Forces (FAMET) are undergoing a profound renewal of their aircraft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19534,11544],"tags":[13466,6604,1048,11462,10557],"class_list":["post-63836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense-portada-eng","category-army","tag-airbus-helicopters-h145","tag-batallon-de-helicopteros-de-ataque-no-1-bhela-i","tag-famet","tag-spain","tag-spanish-army"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63836\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}