Border guard weighs selling helicopter held in Italy since 2022

Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service is considering selling a helicopter that has been at a maintenance centre in Italy since July 2022, as repairs and upgrades could cost up to 2.4 million euros, LRT reported, citing the Lrytas news site.

The aircraft, a Eurocopter EC-135 bought in 2006, was sent to the centre run by Airbus Helicopters Italia for maintenance and modernisation. The service has not made a final decision about its future.

Last week, a trade union representing pre-trial investigation institutions in Vilnius County asked the border guard service to explain the whereabouts of one of its three H145 helicopters, bought in 2025. The service told BNS that all three were in use and there were no plans to sell them. The helicopter now in Italy is a different, older aircraft.

The service said inspection found worn and defective components. It estimates that addressing those issues and overhauling the engines and main gearbox would cost about 2.1 million to 2.4 million euros.

The helicopter has 40 to 50 flight hours remaining before its engines and main gearbox reach the manufacturer’s service-life limit of about 3,500 hours. That would be enough for several test flights and a journey back to Lithuania, the service said.

Equipment worth 6.4 million euros was bought for the helicopter using funding from the European Union’s Internal Security Fund. It includes video surveillance, signal detection, navigation and mapping systems, as well as searchlights.

The service cannot say when the helicopter might return to Lithuania because modernisation and certification work is not complete. Until the planned work is finished, it does not have a valid airworthiness certificate.

The border guard service has eight helicopters, of which six are currently in operation. One EC-120B is unfit for use, while the EC-135 is in Italy. The service plans to phase out its EC-120B, EC-135 and EC-145 helicopters by 2032 and focus on H145 aircraft.