Police helicopter (file)
Police helicopter (file)Abir Sultan/Flash90

Israeli company Elbit Systems was awarded an Israeli Ministry of Public Security and Israel Police contract Thursday, valued at approximately US$115 million, to supply leasing and maintenance services for the Israel Police Force’s aircraft.

The contract, awarded following a public tender, will be performed over a twenty-year period, and will include acquiring six new helicopters, adapting them to meet the Police requirements and performing routine maintenance. 

The helicopters’ configuration and onboard mission systems will be fitted to accommodate a wide variety of missions such as surveillance and policing, search and rescue, command and control and fire-fighting.

Police helicopter - EC145 - illustration
Police helicopter - EC145 - illustrationElbit systems

Elbit Systems, which will operate the helicopters under a PFI (Private Finance Initiative) contract, has been successfully operating PFI projects with the Israeli Defense Forces and in a number of countries around the world.

“The decision of the Ministry of Public Security to award the helicopters project to us attests to the success of our PFI based projects, such as operating fixed-wing aircraft, helicopter and unmanned systems fleets, both in Israel and worldwide," Bezhalel (Butzi) Machlis, CEO of Elbit, stated. "We are proud to cooperate, yet again, with the Ministry of Public Security, the Israeli Police Force and the Fire Fighting Forces and to contribute our experience to Israel’s safety and security”.