Eurocopter España - performs retrofit activities in three main areas: aircraft customization; equipment integration; and the installation of special systems for civil (fire fighting, air rescue, video surveillance, etc.) and military (self-protection and self-defense) operations.

To meet the needs of its customers, Eurocopter España can install the required equipment for EMS missions by providing certain aircraft with specialized medical equipment (oxygen system, incubator, etc.).
But because of Eurocopter España's experience in installing equipment packages and specialized systems, other missions can be provided for as well. For fire fighting missions for example, tanks holding up to 1200 liters of water can be installed on the aircraft. This equipment package offers optimum safety thanks to a center-ofgravity stabilization system.

This system is extremely important, as large masses of hot air are frequently subjected to violent turbulence during forest fires. Eurocopter España has installed this type of equipment on the AS350 B3 Ecureuil of the operator TAF. The helicopter is used by the Catalan Regional Government ("Generalitat").
For search and rescue missions, the aircraft must be equipped with rescue winches operated by the Spanish SAR(1). The installation of these units is often accompanied by engineering studies that are required to insure the flight safety of the helicopter. Another possibility is the installation of video surveillance systems. For example, gyrostabilized platforms are used by the Guardia Civil for surveillance missions over the Straits of Gibraltar.
EAPS(2) systems and sand filters have also been installed on the Super Puma, together with searchlights for law enforcement missions. Eurocopter España also handles the installation of night vision systems and makes them compatible with night vision goggles for IFR(3) flight training.
It should also be noted that Eurocopter España also takes care of the certification for these systems.

Self-Protection Systems
In the military sector, helicopters often perform very different types of missions, which may range from tactical transport to humanitarian aid. Many of these missions, in particular those performed by Special Forces, take place in hostile environments, and regardless of the type of mission the helicopter is called on to perform, it is faced with a wide range of threats in conflict situations.

Air defense artillery units, equipped with radar – and infrared – guided missiles or guns, remain on constant alert to protect the aircraft participating in peace-keeping missions. Enemy air defense artillery units, equipped with radar- and infrared-guided missiles or guns, remain on constant alert to attack the aircraft participating in peacekeeping missions.
The “survivability” of a helicopter is based not only on its electronic warning systems, which prevent it from being spotted and neutralized by air defense systems, but also on its self-defense equipment, which include decoy dispensers and air defense jamming units. The decoy dispenser and radar warning systems on the AS332 Super Puma and the AS532 Cougar play a key role in these self-defense functions.

Thanks to these systems, which are designed, installed, and certified by Eurocopter España, missiles are effectively avoided, and the helicopters are sure to remain untouched. Radar-guided weapon systems are detected by the warning system integrated in the decoy dispenser. Information about the different threats, as well as speed and altitude parameters, are input in the decoy launch programs in order to optimize the decoy functions.
The safety units prevent the activation of decoys on the ground and authorize the launching of any smoke-producing cartridges in case of an in-flight emergency. With the system installed by ECE, countermeasures can be activated manually via control buttons on the pilot and copilot cyclic lever, and operators in the cockpit can also fire decoys from their stations.
The system was also designed to integrate new self-protection units, such as missile approach warning systems and infrared jamming units.