July the 21st, 2022 - Croatia is the first in all of Europe to purchase the brand new Subaru Bell 412EPX helicopters which boast special modules for medical evacuations and search and rescue missions.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP), Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic PhD signed a contract with the American company Bell Textron Inc., for the purchase of two multipurpose Subaru Bell 412EPX helicopters, making Croatia the first to do so.
In this way, based on normal public procurement procedures, the Croatian Ministry of Interior managed to acquire the first Subaru Bell 412EPX in the whole of Europe with a contract value totalling 36,294,975.00 euros including VAT.
The new helicopters will be part of the fleet of the Ministry of the Interior, and will be used for the needs of civil protection and HGSS (Croatian Mountain Rescue Service) rescue operations and emergency medical flights.
This helicopter is currently the most modern version of the Bell 412 platform, whose main benefits are improved durability in terms of increasing the maximum weight and amount of cargo it can carry and transport, as well as an increase in the so-called ''output torque'' by more than 10 percent at impressive speeds of 60 knots.
The aforementioned upgrades mean greater speed and efficiency when performing complex rescue operations and/or medical care, which ultimately significantly affects the timeliness and efficiency of the system's overall response in crisis situations.
Funds for the procurement were provided through the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development through European Union (EU) funds, specifically based on the Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Pgoramme, as part of a wider project called "Helicopter support to the civil protection system".
The value of the project stands at 273,294,117.65 kuna including VAT, of which 85 percent is made up by grants, or 232,300,000.00 kuna including VAT.
The deadline for the delivery of the ordered helicopters to Croatia is fifteen months from the signing of the contract.
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