Ukrainian Ministry of Defense receives Bo 105-E4 helicopter.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced it has received a Bo 105-E4 helicopter. The Bo 105 is a light multipurpose twin-engine helicopter developed by the German company Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm.

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Albanian Bo 105-E4 (Picture source: Militarnyi and gagadget.com)

The Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 105 is a light, twin-engine, multi-purpose helicopter developed by Bölkow of Ottobrunn, West Germany. It was the first light twin-engine helicopter in the world, and the first rotorcraft that could perform aerobatic maneuvers such as inverted loops. The Bo 105 features a hingeless rotor system, a pioneering innovation in helicopters when it was introduced into service in 1970. Production of the Bo 105 began at the then-recently merged Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB).

The main production facilities for producing the Bo 105 were located in Germany and Canada; due to the level of export sales encountered, additional manufacturing lines were set up in Spain, Indonesia, and the Philippines. For the entire time of production around the world, about 1,500 units came off the assembly line. MBB became a part of Eurocopter in 1991, who continued production of the type until 2001. The Bo 105 was formally replaced in Eurocopter's product range by the newer Eurocopter EC135.

Bo 105-E4

12 German Army Bo 105P antitank helicopters were overhauled and upgraded to the E4 standard for a 10 million euro contract, then donated to Albania in 2006. This variant has better performance and avionics. The first batch was delivered in 2006.

Unlike the Bundeswehr (German army) in the past, the Albanian Bo 105-E4s are not armed HOT anti-tank missiles, so it is not known whether the Ukrainian version of the helicopter will be armed. Most likely, the Ukrainians will use them simply (or mainly) for transport purposes.

The helicopter can take up to 4 people on board, the maximum take-off weight is 2,500 kilograms. The practical range reaches 575 kilometers. The cruising speed is 204 km/h.

German army Bo-105P anti-tank helicopter armed with HOT missiles (Picture source: MBB/Bundeswehr)