The Hessen Police Service in Germany is to add a Vulcanair P68 Observer to its fleet after extensive evaluations as the optimum platform for supporting longer surveillance missions.

The aircraft will be capable of missions of up to nine hours when fully equipped, at a fraction of the cost of helicopter operations. Hessen State Police air operations will also no longer be limited by adverse weather conditions as the P68 has full de-icing capability and digital avionics.

One key benefit is that high value surveillance equipment can be transferred from the helicopter fleet to the Vulcanair P68 aircraft quickly and efficiently. "We contracted Airborne Technologies of Austria to integrate Hessen's police thermal camera and other equipment," says Remo De Feo, ceo of Vulcanair Aircraft.

"We are committed to assisting our partners to develop more flexible and cost effective airborne surveillance solutions,'' said Airborne Technologies ceo Wolfgang Grumeth. "We supp-orted Vulcanair in Hessen's police evaluation process, to make sure all of their equipment could properly be installed on the P68 aircraft. The result is that the police force will be able to increase its operating capability while at the same time reducing its costs, which is good news considering today's limited and restricted budgets!"