Bostwana in the market for police helicopters

BPS Air Support Unit (ASB) director Arthur Johnson told local media in Gaborone that the police air wing has had plans to expand its fleet since the beginning of the year.

However, he said the planned acquisition of the helicopters has been hobbled by the shortage of funds despite the tenders that have already been issued seeking suppliers.

Johnson said the ASB unit is now hard pressed to acquire new choppers following the crash of one of the BPS's three Eurocopter AS-350B3 while on a routine mission flight near Maun in April this year.

The crash killed all three personnel on board and left the BPS with just two helicopter to perform the key policing roles of troop support and transportation during criminal pursuits and recovery operations, traffic surveillance, public order monitoring and the conduct of search and rescue (SAR) missions across the vast country.

“The most urgent task facing the ASB right now is to replace the (Eurocopter AS-350B3) helicopter that was lost during the accident (in April). We had plans to increase our fleet even before the crash.

"There was even a tender notice that was floated before that accident. But right now we are under pressure to replace the lost helicopter so that we can at least go back to our normal routines,” said Johnson.

Prior to the crash, the ASB had three operational choppers with two based in Gaborone. One was prmarily devoted to support police operations in the capital while the other conducted aerial patrols over Kang, Lobatse and Gantsi in the east and south-east.

The third helicopter, which crashed, was based in the northern city of Francistown from where it conducted aerial patrols and troop support operations in Kasane, Maun and Lethlakane and Orapa in the central part of the country.

However, despite the lack of sufficient aerial assets to support police operations, the BPS air unit has enough manpower to fly up to 13 helicopters, but only if the resources permit.

"Right now we have 11 trained helicopter pilots. We have four who are based in the Francistown policing district and we have three others who are operational here in Gaborone. There are also two instructor pilots who do fly when required to, but they dedicate most of their time to training the operational pilots,” Johnson said.

Two more pilots are presently undergoing training in South Africa and the service has plans to send two more trainee chopper pilots for the same training programme starting early next year.

The three Eurocopter AS350 B3 helicopters were delivered between 2008 and 2009. Two older Bell helicopters which were ordered earlier have since broken down and are in a state of disrepair.

Equipped with FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared) observations systems, Spectrolab SX 16 night sun, rescue hoist, cargo swing and external loud hailers, the Eurocopter AS350 B3 choppers have become an key force multiplier asset in the BPS crime-fighting missions.