The Ecuadorian Air Force’s 2113 Combat Squadron has operated six H145 helicopters since 2021. The fleet is used for missions ranging from medical evacuation and reconnaissance to firefighting, surveillance, external cargo transport, and hoist rescue.
The aircraft reached the 7,000-hour milestone in May 2026, having operated across Ecuador’s coastal, highland and Amazon regions. The operating environment places particular demands on aircraft availability, with the helicopters routinely deployed for emergency response and missions in remote areas.
Maintenance readiness supports high fleet availability
Maintaining availability across such a wide operating area requires dedicated technical support alongside the aircraft’s operational crews. The Ecuadorian Air Force has dedicated H145 maintenance personnel, with technicians trained on the helicopter’s Helionix avionics system.
Helionix integrates flight, navigation, and monitoring functions within the H145 cockpit, making technician training and system knowledge an important part of maintaining the aircraft’s operational readiness.
The fleet’s operating profile also requires maintenance teams to support frequent configuration changes. The H145s can be equipped for different roles, including firefighting, medical evacuation, cargo transport and rescue operations, requiring appropriate inspection and preparation before and after specialised missions.
Reliability tested across demanding missions
The H145s operate throughout the year and across significantly different terrain and environmental conditions. Captain Carlos Pacheco Morales described the squadron’s operating model as “high operability, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
The fleet’s firefighting role provides one example of the aircraft’s intensive operating profile. During the 2025 fire season, the H145s were used with Bambi Bucket systems and delivered approximately 30,000 litres of water across four provinces.
Such missions introduce additional operational and maintenance considerations, including repeated external-load operations, equipment installation and removal, and inspections associated with demanding flight cycles.
The aircraft are also frequently used during flooding and other emergencies, where rapid deployment and availability are critical. Their ability to be reconfigured for medical evacuation, humanitarian transport and rescue missions allows the same fleet to support different requirements without maintaining separate aircraft types for each role.
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H145 support built around operational continuity
The 7,000-hour milestone provides an indication of the fleet’s operational performance while also highlighting the importance of maintaining technical readiness across a multi-role helicopter fleet.
For the Ecuadorian Air Force, maintaining dedicated personnel with H145 and Helionix expertise forms part of the support structure required to keep the aircraft available for missions throughout the country.
The combination of a common H145 fleet, specialised maintenance knowledge, and the ability to rapidly configure aircraft for different missions allows the 2113 Combat Squadron to maintain a high level of operational flexibility while supporting Ecuador’s emergency-response requirements.
