Helicopter rescue announcement soon

The move would end 70 years of search and rescue operations by the RAF and Royal Navy
26 March 2013

A US-based company is to take over Britain's helicopter search and rescue operations, it has been reported.

The Government has awarded the contract to run the service to the Bristow Group, which has its headquarters in Texas, Sky News reported.

The broadcaster said an announcement - ending 70 years of search and rescue operations by the RAF and Royal Navy - would be made before the stock market opens.

The contract - which runs from 2015 to 2026 - is reported to be worth in the region of £3 billion.

Bristow is said to be planning replace the ageing RAF and Navy Sea King helicopters with faster, more efficient Sikorsky S-92s and AgustaWestland 189s.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We are due to make an announcement soon."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in