Assembled by Airbus Helicopters at its Donauwörth facility in southern Germany, all 15 H135s – manufactured to the older T2+ standard – have now achieved full factory acceptance in the two years since contract signature.

Canberra selected the combined Airbus Helicopters, Boeing and Thales team in November 2014 to provide the airframes, flight simulators and synthetic training devices, as well as instruction for army and navy pilots under its Helicopter Aircrew Training System programme.

Initial flying activities have begun using the H135s at NAS Nowra in New South Wales.

The first of the Safran Helicopter Engines Arius 2B2-powered helicopters was delivered in July 2015.