Gwinnett to Make Old Police Helicopters New Again

The two helicopters used by the Gwinnett County Police Department’s aviation unit are getting upgrades that will essentially make them new again, as well as save the county millions of dollars.

Gwinnett commissioners approved contracts this week to upgrade the units at a cost of nearly $2.5 million. New machines would run between $7 million and $8.4 million, the county said in a news release. The existing helicopters date back to the 1980s.

According to the news release:

For just under $2.5 million, the County will keep both McDonnell Douglas MD500E airframes and replace most components with new equipment and more powerful engines, converting them to MD530F helicopters that will be considered new. McDonnell Douglas was awarded the contract to do the conversion work at a substantially reduced cost compared to purchasing brand new aircraft.

Both helicopters will also get new digital thermal infrared imaging systems and the 1984 machine will also get upgraded digital avionics with night vision and a new spotlight to make both helicopters identical. With more reliable, accurate and vibration-resistant instruments, the result should be less maintenance and downtime. FLIR Inc. was awarded the contract for the thermal infrared system at an estimated cost of $800,912 and Rotor Resources LLC will perform the avionics and spotlight replacement for approximately $283,640.

Gwinnett Police Chief A.A. “Butch” Ayers said the helicopters are used to support uniform patrol officers, and to track suspects and search for missing or endangered persons, often in the dark.

A few years ago, Gwinnett Fire and Emergency Services used a similar concept to find savings by mounting an existing aerial ladder on a new truck body.