FLIR's Safire selected for UK's SAR programme
This comes after the UK Department for Transport awarded the UK SAR contract to Bristow Helicopters Limited (Bristow Helicopters) in March of this year. The UK SAR services contract, which Bristow Helicopters will fulfill on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), has a phased-in transition period beginning in April 2015 and continuing to July 2017 with a contract length of approximately 10 years.
Bristow Helicopters will provide 11 Sikorsky S-92 and 11 AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters that will be located at ten strategically located helicopter bases across the UK. Each SAR base will operate either two S-92s or two AW189s. In addition to the ten bases with 20 aircraft, there will be two fully SAR-equipped training aircraft that can be deployed to any base as needed. FLIR’s Star SAFIRE 380-HD selection allows the latest generation of high-definition, multispectral imaging to be used by aircrew of both helicopter types in this demanding SAR role.
Flir has been providing Star Safire observation systems and product support to UK SAR operators for more than 20 years, and continues to achieve an operational availability greater than 99%. Safire 380-HD represents the latest state-of-the-art, airborne imaging solution, offering extreme stand-off observation capability. The sensor system is currently used in SAR operations, law enforcement, military and border surveillance missions worldwide. The Star SAFIRE 380-HD contains advanced payload configurations with multiple high definition sensors, including a full native high definition infrared camera, making the Star SAFIRE 380-HD the world’s only commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) airborne system to provide real high definition thermal imaging.
“Flir is proud to be selected by Bristow Helicopters for the UK Search and Rescue programme,” said Bill Sundermeier, president of FLIR Government Systems. “We take our responsibility to offer lifesaving technology very seriously, and together with Bristow Helicopters, our products and people will be there when survivors and those in distress need the right technology and service to be brought to safety.”
