Post by Focus on Mar 26, 2013 7:54:03 GMT
The sale to a US company brings to an end 70 years of Sea King search operations by the RAF and the Royal Navy.
The UK search and rescue helicopter service is being sold off to a US-based company in a deal worth £1.6bn.
RAF Sea King helicopters have been running rescue operations for 70 years
The sale ends 70 years of search-and-rescue operations by the RAF and Navy and also spells the end of the use of Sea King helicopters in that type of work.
The Bristow Group, which is based in Texas, will now run the service in Britain from 2015 to 2026.
The Department for Transport said the contract would deliver improved flying times and better coverage of high-risk areas.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "Our search and rescue helicopter service plays a crucial role, saving lives and providing assistance to people in distress on both land and on sea.
"With 24 years of experience providing search and rescue helicopter services in the UK, the public can have great confidence in Bristow and their ability to deliver a first class service with state-of-the-art helicopters."
Under the new contract, 22 state of the art helicopters will operate from 10 locations around the UK with bases open 24 hours a day.
Ten Sikorsky S92s will be based, two per site, at Stornoway and Sumburgh, and at new bases at Newquay, Caernarfon and Humberside airports
Ten AgustaWestland AW189s will operate from Lee on Solent and a new hangar at Prestwick airport, and new bases which will be established at St Athan, Inverness and Manston airports.
It is understood that the technology they will introduce is so advanced that the US State Department had to give its approval for it to be used in the UK.
Half of the new fleet will be built in Yeovil, Somerset, and the contract will continue to be managed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
The distinct yellow RAF Sea King helicopters and grey and red Navy versions were already due to retire from service in 2016.
Upkeep costs and the cost of extending their life has been deemed too expensive.
The move is also in keeping with a wider re-shaping of the military in the face of budget cuts and the 2014 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
But the Sea King has been the work-horse of the skies, both in a combat and peacetime capacity and it will be missed by many.
Few other aircraft have so many memorable moments associated with them but the Sea King will long be remembered for its part in the Falklands conflict and the Fastnet race in 1979 when it helped rescue sailors from ferocious seas.
Bristow already provides transport services in the UK to ferry oil-rig workers to and from North Sea platforms.
The company has had a presence in Europe for more than 50 years and also operates in Australia, West Africa, Russia and Malaysia in addition to North America.
