The UK’s National Police Air Service (NPAS) has placed an order for two additional H135 helicopters, bringing its ongoing fleet renewal program to a total of nine aircraft.
Airbus Helicopters announced the order on July 20, 2026, the first day of the Farnborough International Airshow.
The order builds on a framework contract signed in 2025 with BlueLight Commercial, the UK’s police procurement agency, which named Airbus the exclusive helicopter supplier for NPAS for up to six years.
It follows the arrival of the program’s first two aircraft at Airbus Helicopters’ UK facility in April 2026, where the aircraft are currently undergoing extensive customization for policing use.
The UK’s National Police Air Service (NPAS) orders two additional Airbus H135 helicopters, bringing the total fleet renewal programme to nine H135s. NPAS currently operates 16 H135 and four H145 helicopters in England and Wales.
— Airbus Helicopters (@AirbusHeli) July 20, 2026
Read the press release: LINK pic.twitter.com/96XpN8gR2d
Building a modern policing fleet
Chief Superintendent Fiona Gaffney, NPAS Accountable Manager, said the new aircraft will give police crews a modern and resilient capability to respond to incidents and support officers on the ground.
Gaffney credited the scale of the program to the work of people across NPAS, Airbus, and BlueLight Commercial, saying their combined expertise had brought the effort to this stage. She added that the partnership is building a fleet meant to serve policing and the public for years to come, keeping NPAS equipped for the changing demands of operational police work.
Richard Atack, Managing Director of Airbus Helicopters in the UK, said the company’s decades of design and customization experience in the country will help push the UK’s police helicopter fleet toward a best-in-class standard, built around current security and policing technology.
A fleet already in heavy use
NPAS currently flies 16 H135 and four H145 helicopters out of 14 locations across England and Wales, supporting all 43 police forces in the two countries.
Airbus Helicopters in the UK also handles maintenance and support for the fleet, which includes some of the most heavily used police helicopters anywhere in the world.
The new aircraft are scheduled to arrive at Airbus’s Oxford site in 2028, where they will be finished to NPAS’s specific configuration. The aircraft will come equipped with Airbus’s Helionix avionics system, a new addition for NPAS pilots, who have already begun training and familiarization flights.
The system is designed to reduce pilot workload, which Airbus says improves both safety and overall operational effectiveness.
Globally, more than 1,470 H135 helicopters are in service with over 325 customers, having logged a combined total of more than eight million flight hours.