The Ministry of Defense and the State Security Service plan to buy six helicopters in the coming years, which can also be used to extinguish fires.
According to the Ministry of Defense, within a month, a decision will be made to purchase four helicopters. The purchase amount will be called after the decision is made. The agreement on the delivery of helicopters is planned to be concluded this year, the first delivery is envisaged in 2021. New helicopters can perform search and rescue activities, medical evacuation and firefighting functions. Now, the air forces of the National Armed Forces of Latvia have four second-hand Mi-17 helicopters and two Mi-2 helicopters. The state secret police informed that in December 2017 an agreement was concluded with the company “Leonardo S.pa.a.”, which provides for the renewal of the fleet of helicopters.
Two helicopters “Agusta Bell 206B” of 1974 and 1980 years of production in 2019 will be replaced by two helicopters of light class “AW 119 Kx”, which together with the training of pilots will cost 12,482,718 euros (VAT included).
