France’s Gendarmerie takes delivery of first Airbus H160 from 10‑ship order

Airbus Helicopters has delivered the first of 10 H160 medium‑twins to France’s Gendarmerie Nationale, handed over via the Defence Procurement Agency (DGA). The H160 — the largest rotorcraft the Gendarmerie will operate — joins a fleet renewal that began with an H145 handover last November.

Discovered 2025-12-16T05:17:34.396707-08:00 | 2025-12-16T05:17:34.396707-08:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • The Gendarmerie has received the first of a 10‑ship H160 order, an explicit fleet‑renewal step and operational milestone handed to the Defence Procurement Agency (DGA), signalling near‑term capability growth for national security and public‑service missions.

  • This delivery sits against Airbus Helicopters’ broader H160 scale‑up: the programme is moving from initial service entries into higher throughput production to meet rising demand — see the OEM’s plan to ramp H160 output and the programme’s growing fleet https://hype.aero/?story=c7d3c025-6c83-4ffa-8571-984943e3ea1a.

  • The H160 is establishing a diverse public‑service footprint (medical interior STC and firefighting configurations), underscoring the type’s operational flexibility and aftermarket ecosystem that operators and suppliers should track https://hype.aero/?story=3aba20e4-7a33-45c3-b02f-fd91af3c38b5 and https://hype.aero/?story=ec779d3d-47c8-4ab6-a978-7a459df304d6.

Reported By

aerobuzz.fr webinfomil.com haber.aero horizon.mt aviaciondigital.com helicoptersmagazine.com
Sources Tracked
21
First Seen
2025-12-16T05:17:34.396707-08:00
Latest Update
2025-12-22T04:13:25.544291-08:00
Coverage
Defense

Sources

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