Spare parts shortage and poor de-icing: Estonia mulls replacing helicopters

An increasing number of times, none of the Police and Border Guard Board's three helicopters are able to take off due to technical issues. Only one of the helicopters is equipped with a de-icing system and even that has been malfunctioning for the past 14 years. The Ministry of the Interior is currently assessing whether the state should purchase additional helicopters or replace the entire existing fleet.
In December, the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) aviation unit was requested to assist with three medical flights. All three were canceled due to weather conditions. On Monday, Eesti Ekspress reported that poor weather led to the cancellation of 16 medical flights last year. However, Estonia also needs helicopters for search and rescue missions, maritime rescue and a wide range of other critical tasks.
Notably, unsuitable flying weather doesn't necessarily mean stormy winds. Far more dangerous is damp weather with temperatures hovering around freezing. If ice forms on the rotor blades, flying becomes extremely hazardous.
Estonia received its first AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter in 2007, the second in 2008 and the third in February 2011. The new decade brought good news along with the arrival of the last helicopter, as the British-Italian company AgustaWestland, which developed the AW series helicopters, had just received certification for a de-icing system. Estonia was among the first customers to have an AW139 equipped with this system.
In hindsight, however, the system has caused more headaches than relief.
"What we have is a de-icing system full of teething problems," said Rain Jõeveer, head of the PPA's aviation unit. "The honest truth is that it has never really worked well for us."
"Fifteen years spent repairing..."
In the mid-2010s, AgustaWestland became part of its parent company Leonardo, which employs 50,000 people and has an annual turnover of €15 billion.
According to Rain Jõeveer, Leonardo has learned from past mistakes and has installed increasingly reliable systems on newer helicopters. However, due to the highly specialized nature of aviation technology, it is not possible to retrofit these upgrades onto the models previously sold to Estonia. Similarly, it is not feasible to add de-icing systems to the helicopters purchased in the 2000s.
"For the past 15 years, we've essentially been continuously repairing and maintaining that de-icing system and it just isn't reliable," Jõeveer said. "Leonardo openly acknowledges this and has been very cooperative in thinking of ways to improve it."
However, those improvements haven't made much of a difference.
Jõeveer described the complexity of the system, which isn't just a set of electric heaters but also includes a multitude of wires, modules and sensors. If even one component malfunctions, the entire system needs to be repaired again.
Spare parts broken upon arrival
Replacement parts aren't cheap and while Leonardo has been a helpful partner, it has also proven to be an expensive one. To manage costs, the PPA signed a four-year warranty contract with the company.
Under a framework agreement signed in the spring of 2022, worth up to half a million euros, the PPA pays Leonardo a fixed amount for every flight hour. In return, the company guarantees the supply of all necessary parts for the de-icing system.
"I can say with complete confidence that we've received a lot of spare parts. In fact, we've gained a significant advantage from this arrangement," Jõeveer said.
However, how much those parts help — in other words, how many hours of functioning de-icing each shipment actually ensures — is another matter entirely.
Jõeveer noted that it's considered a success if the system works for even a few days after repairs.
"When we receive the spare parts, our technicians test them before installing them on the helicopter. The sad reality is that quite often they are already broken upon arrival and we have to send them back," he added.
Giving up on de-icing a tough decision
The PPA's aviation unit has seriously considered removing the de-icing system from the helicopters altogether, which would save both time and money — with the understanding that flights simply wouldn't be possible in sleet conditions.
"The sad reality is that, for four months of the year, we face icing conditions in Estonia," Jõeveer said, emphasizing that having a helicopter equipped with a functioning de-icing system is absolutely essential in the local climate. Therefore, the unit's technicians continue their efforts to ensure the system works at least occasionally.
"We always have this hope that maybe the next spare part or the next solution from Leonardo will finally fix the issue," Jõeveer said. However, he admitted that after 15 years, that hope is slowly fading.
Good news: Chopper teams can now be dispatched more quickly
Amid the bad news, the head of the aviation unit also has a positive update. For years, the helicopter crews have worked on a schedule that requires at least one crew to be on standby from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., ready to take off within 15 minutes of receiving a call. However, during the other half of the day, crews are at home, and it can take up to an hour to launch a flight during that time.
In 2020, a project was launched to improve the unit's readiness so that at least one crew would be near the helicopter 24/7. While progress was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic and budget cuts, the project is now nearing completion.
"We've recruited the necessary people and the final training sessions are currently underway," Jõeveer said. "Our goal is to achieve full 24/7 readiness starting this June."
Back to bad news: Hours during which helicopters not available up
"Since the COVID period, we've been in serious trouble with spare parts deliveries becoming a major issue," Jõeveer said.
The PPA aviation unit's three helicopters require constant maintenance.
Smaller maintenance tasks, lasting up to half a day, are performed after every few dozen flight hours. Once a year, each helicopter undergoes a six- to eight-week maintenance check. Additionally, every four years, each helicopter is sent back to the manufacturer for an in-depth overhaul that can take around six months.
The maintenance schedule is carefully planned to ensure that at least one helicopter is always ready to take off immediately. On average, two helicopters are technically operational at the same time for about 60 percent of the year. However, when spare parts don't arrive on time, maintenance periods get prolonged and the schedules are disrupted.
The gradual decline in the availability of a second helicopter is only part of the problem.
There are an increasing number of hours and days in Estonia when none of the aviation unit's helicopters are technically capable of taking off.
"In the better years, we had about 48 such hours," Jõeveer noted. "Now that number has increased nearly sixfold."
In other words, each month, there is at least one full day's worth of hours when none of the aviation unit's helicopters can take off due to technical issues. This doesn't include additional hours lost when helicopters are grounded due to a crew member's illness or poor weather conditions.
Wealthier private sector competing for spare parts
Jõeveer noted that the shortage of spare parts isn't unique to Estonia's aviation unit — it's an issue affecting almost all helicopter operators. Private companies, however, are better positioned to manage the risks, either by maintaining larger fleets or having bigger budgets.
"It's also the case that when there's a demand for a scarce spare part and several buyers are interested, a sort of bidding war can emerge. Essentially, whoever is willing to pay more gets it," Jõeveer explained.
Although Estonia has a multi-year framework agreement with Leonardo for purchasing spare parts, the company has similar contracts with other clients as well. Competing with Saudi Arabian businesses in such situations is simply beyond the PPA's means.
Public broadcaster ERR has learned that it is theoretically possible to sign a different type of contract with Leonardo that would give Estonia priority access to spare parts. However, such an agreement would come at a significantly higher price.
The root of the problem lies elsewhere. "Our helicopters are already so old that some spare parts have become increasingly scarce because they're no longer produced in large quantities. In some cases, they're only manufactured on demand," Jõeveer explained.
Leonardo still produces AW139 helicopters today. However, over the past 15 years, the model has undergone numerous updates and parts from the newer versions are not compatible with the older aircraft.
"We try to pre-order a lot of components, but in aviation, there are certain spare parts that simply cannot be kept in stock because they age on the shelf. They have a limited lifespan," Jõeveer said.
Estonia gave up plan to procure new choppers two years ago
The head of the Ministry of the Interior's border guard and migration policy department, Janek Mägi, emphasized that at least one helicopter should always be flight-ready. Furthermore, he stressed that all helicopters should be equipped with de-icing systems.
"This is now a decision point — do we replace the entire helicopter fleet?" Mägi said. "It makes no sense to maintain a mixed fleet. If we want to replace them, we should buy all new helicopters at once. That would be cheaper and more practical."
This isn't just an offhand idea from a high-ranking official. As early as 2017, the then-head of the PPA's aviation unit, Kalmer Sütt, proposed that in addition to the existing three helicopters, at least a fourth one was needed. At the time, funding couldn't be secured, but the idea gained traction, especially after the COVID-19 crisis opened access to the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Initially, the government proposed to the European Commission that it would purchase two new helicopters for €55 million. To fit the proposal within the recovery fund framework, the government emphasized that the helicopters would serve medical purposes and the plan included establishing a second helicopter base in Tartu. By 2026, the aviation unit hoped to have two helicopters permanently ready to take off.
However, by the summer of 2022, it became clear that Estonia would receive less money from the recovery fund than expected. Moreover, the project required securing additional funds to cover ongoing operational costs. Until 2026, this would have meant an additional €10 million burden on the state budget and from 2026 onward, a recurring cost of at least €6 million annually.
As a result, the Reform Party, which was briefly left governing alone, scrapped the project. After the Social Democrats and Isamaa joined the government in mid-2022, neither party made any attempt to revive the helicopter project.
Lauri Läänemets (SDE), who became minister of the interior at the time, admitted he doesn't know the exact reasons why the helicopter procurement was abandoned. "In hindsight, we can say that it wasn't the right decision," he said.
The minister noted that recent incidents involving cable sabotage in the Baltic Sea have prompted the ministry to reassess what kind of helicopter fleet Estonia needs. "We are analyzing whether we should acquire additional helicopters or whether we need to replace the current ones," Läänemets explained.
He added that, according to previous plans, the current helicopters were expected to remain operational until 2032 or 2034. However, the possibility of replacing them earlier is now under discussion. "But that's just one of the questions we're addressing," Läänemets said.
How often would Estonia need larger helicopters?
Janek Mägi emphasized that Estonia first needs to determine what type of helicopters it actually requires. For instance, discussions have taken place on whether a helicopter should be capable of transporting the entire K-Commando tactical unit or carrying two stretchers at once.
Currently, the AW139 helicopters can accommodate only one stretcher. Depending on the amount of gear on board, they may also be slightly too small to transport a sufficient number of special forces personnel for certain missions.
On land, this isn't a significant issue, as special units aren't based solely in Tallinn and can quickly reach locations by road. But getting to a maritime operation by bus is, of course, impossible.
For comparison, Finland recently sent larger Eurocopter AS 332 Super Puma helicopters to assist with the Eagle-S oil tanker incident. These helicopters are considerably bigger than Estonia's AW139s.
"A larger helicopter is, of course, better than a smaller one," Mägi acknowledged. "But if we look at the actual flight hours when we've needed to transport the entire K-Commando unit or two patients simultaneously, the number of such cases is extremely small."
So far, the current medium-sized helicopters have been considered the most optimal for Estonia's needs. Mägi refrained from making any predictions about what conclusions the ongoing analysis might reach.
Switching to new type of chopper hugely expensive
However, Mägi stressed that regardless of what type of helicopters Estonia acquires in the future, they should be uniform. Maintaining different platforms would drive maintenance and crew costs significantly higher.
According to Mägi, the analysis must also take into account the costs of replacing the current helicopter fleet with either similar models or completely different aircraft. A new Leonardo AW139 helicopter costs over €20 million, while larger helicopters can reach prices of up to €40 million. Selling the old helicopters could recover part of these costs.
Switching to an entirely new type of helicopter, however, would require purchasing new tools and retraining all crews, from pilots to technicians. This would make the process considerably more expensive. In other words, replacing the current fleet with a completely new model would likely be the most costly option.
A somewhat cheaper alternative would be to replace the current helicopters with modern versions of the same model. Even more affordable would be the purchase of a fourth AW139 to supplement the existing three. The cheapest option, however, would be to continue with the current fleet as is.
Läänemets promised that the analysis and its recommendations would be presented to the government within a month.
Postimees reported on January 14 that a six-year-old boy suffering from a severe case of the flu virus died in the hospital after he could not be airlifted from Kuressaare to Tallinn in time due to none of the PPA's AW139 helicopters being able to take off because they were either undergoing maintenance or because the weather conditions were not suitable for flying.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski