First Two German Federal Police EC135 Helicopters Equipped with HELLAS

Released on Wednesday, March 14, 2007

EADS Defence & Security (DS) has now also equipped the new civil defence helicopters deployed by the German federal police of the type Eurocopter EC 135 with the obstacle warning system HELLAS (Helicopter Laser Radar). The first two rescue helicopters were handed over to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Civilian Population and Disaster Relief in the Donauw�rth Eurocopter Works. A further 14 rescue helicopters will be delivered.

The HELLAS obstacle warning system was developed at EADS Defence Electronics (DE), an integrated business unit of DS, for use in helicopters. HELLAS is a laser-based system, which detects obstacles reliably even if the pilot has difficulties making them out during the flight. With HELLAS, even obstacles that are so thin that they are almost invisible to the pilot, for example telephone lines, can be reliably detected and displayed, even when visibility is poor.

The system scans the area in front of the helicopter with a laser beam, which is not harmful to the human eye, and detects even thin wire at distances of up to 1,000 metres and with high precision. With the latest version of HELLAS, the pilot sees a depth and greyscale image of the terrain in front of the helicopter. Potential obstacles are displayed in a red signal colour in such a way that they can be recognized by the helicopter crew in good time and safely circumnavigated.

"HELLAS enables the pilot to detect and avoid the smallest of obstacles, even when visibility is bad, and therefore offers crucial protection against one of the main causes of helicopter accidents," explained Bernhard Gerwert, Head of EADS Defence Electronics.

HELLAS obstacle warning system is already being used by the flying squadrons of the federal police. All told, 16 rescue helicopters, with the most modern mission equipment and the latest version of the HELLAS-W obstacle warning system, will be delivered in the next two years.

EADS Defence Electronics (DE) is the company's Sensors, Avionics & Electronic Warfare House of EADS. It is an integrated part of the EADS Defence & Security Division (DS). DS is a systems solutions provider combining military air systems, missile systems, communications and intelligence systems, global security solutions as well as sensor and avionics systems into a single effective network. In 2006, DS � with its around 23,000 employees � achieved revenues of € 5.9 billion.