Air Force unveils new choppers

The New Zealand Airforces A109 helicopters were unveiled today. Photo / NZPA/Ross Setford

The Air Force has unveiled its new A109 helicopters and opened the new hangar where they will be housed in a ceremony at Ohakea Air Base today.

Prime Minister John Key, Defence Minister Wayne Mapp and other dignitaries were among those who attended today's ceremony.

The three new Augusta Westland A109 choppers arrived from Italy earlier this year and were reassembled at Ohakea Air Base in Manawatu.

The helicopters are the first of five that will replace the Air Force's ageing fleet of Bell 47 Sioux training helicopters, which first flew with the Air Force 46 years ago.

Air Force chief Air Vice-Marshal Peter Stockwell said the new helicopters represented the start of a significant leap in technology for the Air Force's rotary wing.

"This will see the RNZAF equipped with the capability necessary to operate even more effectively and efficiently in the twenty-first century," he said.

The A109 is a lightweight twin-engine helicopter with a modern glass cockpit and retractable wheel undercarriage.

They will be used as part of the helicopter training programme and for light utility tasks.

Today's ceremony also saw the opening of the Air Force's new Number 3 Squadron hangar at Ohakea, which will be home to the A109 helicopters and the fleet of NH90 machines which are to replace the Iroquois.

AVM Stockwell said state-of-the-art facilities were needed for the new helicopters because the existing hangars at Ohakea, built in the 1940s, could not accommodate the layout needed.

"The RNZAF is proud now to have one of the most modern hangar facilities in the southern hemisphere," he said.

- NZPA