The Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) will take delivery of the first entirely U.S.-produced Airbus Helicopters H125. The OSHP currently operates two AS350B2 AStars to conduct a wide variety of law enforcement missions, including patrol, aerial searches with thermal imagers, photo missions and marijuana eradication. The OSHP has been operating AStars for more than 20 years.

Airbus had partially assembled AS350B2 and AS350B3 AStar helicopters in Columbus, Miss., since 2005. Production of the H125 (formerly AS350 B3e) on the full final assembly line began late last year. The OSHP aircraft is the first H125 produced from the Columbus assembly line and certified by the FAA.

The H125 assembly line is part of Airbus’s 40-acre Mississippi plant that also produces the UH-72A Lakota for the U.S. Army, the military variant of the H145. To date, the plant has delivered more than 340 Lakotas. The H125 is powered by a single Turbomeca Arriel 2D engine and features dual hydraulics, dual-channel engine Fadec, 30-minute takeoff power and an advanced glass cockpit.