Ecuadorian Army receives its first Eurocopter AS350 B2 helicopters »

By Alfredo Wegener Cañado
23 December 2011

Personnel of the Brigada de Aviación del Ejército N°15 get ready for the handover ceremony of the first two Ecureuil AS350 B2 of the AEE at Sangolquí barracks, La Balvina near Quito, Ecuador, on 20 December 2011. These new rotorcraft will start replacing the last SA315B Lamas flown in Ecuador over the last decades. © AEE

Sangolquí, La Balvina, Ecuador, 20 December 2011 — In the presence of Javier Ponce, the Ecuadorean Defence Minister and of the Jefe del Comando Conjunto, General Ernesto González, and Army Commander General Patricio Cárdenas, as well as various other Ecuadorian military officials and Eurocopter representatives, Eurocopter has delivered to the Aviación del Ejército its first two Ecureuil AS350 B2, out of an order for nine helicopters contracted by the Ecuadorian Armed Forces in July 2010, under its current extensive modernization program.

"The renewal of our helicopter fleet is a key feature of the Army's modernization process," declared Javier Ponce. "This purchase will equip the Armed Forces with a new generation of helicopters with lower maintenance costs." Meanwhile, Eurocopter's Vice-president for Latin America, took the opportunity to thank the Ecuadorian Army "for trusting Eurocopter's range of products over the last 40 years. We are delighted to assist the Armed Forces with their renewal program and wish them every success in their operations with our helicopters."

Even if they added over the past years both Russian and Indian rotorcraft to their inventory, the Ecuadorian Armed Forces were one of the first Latin American armies to integrate Eurocopter aircraft into their fleet. They now have nearly thirty Eurocopter rotorcraft, including two Ecureuil AS350Bs, two A315B Lamas, two SA316 Alouettes, nineteen SA342 Gazelles and four AS332 Super Pumas. The long operational life of this fleet, which includes helicopters with forty years of service flying daily at high altitude, bears testimony to the reliability and durability of the Eurocopter range.

The new Ecureuils will replace the SA315B Lamas within the Brigada de Aviación del Ejército N°15 "Paquisha" and will be used for army pilot training activities in Guayaquil as well as reconnaissance, SAR and firefighting, among other operations.

The AS350 B2 is a light single-engine helicopter with an endurance of 3 hours at 140 knots and a capacity of four passengers and two crew members. Powered by a Turbomeca Arriel 1D1 engine, the Ecuadorian Army's new Ecureuils are also equipped for night flight and rescue hoists for search and rescue operations.

In addition to the recent arrival of the two AS350 B2s, the contract also includes seven Fennec AS550 C3s, which will in turn progressively replace, as of 2015, the Gazelles of BA-15 as well as those of Grupo de Aviación del Ejército N°43 (GAE-43) in Portoviejo in Ecuadorean Amazonia.

Modern, versatile and highly maneuverable, the Fennec AS550 C3 is perfectly adapted to the operational requirements of Ecuador, a country which piles up the H&H (hot and high) critical high altitudes and extreme temperatures drawbacks.

Since its first flight in 1974, the Ecureuil family has achieved sales of more than 5,000 aircraft all over the world and 22 million flight hours.

The aviation element of the Army (Ejército) was formed in 1954 originally named Servicio Aéreo del Ejército (SAE). It was renamed Aviación del Ejército Ecuatoriano (AEE) in 1978. From 1981 onward the flying elements were concentrated in an aviation brigade, effectively transforming the army aviation into an operational brigade within the army structure. Honouring the army aviation's role in the Paquisha conflict in 1981, the unit was renamed Brigada de Aviación del Ejército N°15 "Paquisha" on July, 1 1987. Finally, fifteen years ago only, in 1996, the AEE gained the status of a full arm within the army recognising its vital role in the Cenepa conflict of 1995.

Source: Eurocopter

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