The Minister of National Defense announced this Wednesday, November 5th, that the Government will acquire four helicopters for the Air Force by the end of August next year, which will be made available to assist with medical emergencies.
“Using the Recovery and Resilience Program (PRR), we are purchasing four Black Hawk helicopters delivered by the end of August 2026 and which will be used to support medical emergencies in Portugal”, announced Nuno Melo, at the parliamentary hearing as part of the discussion on the State Budget proposal for 2026.
The Minister of Defense highlighted that, in this way, “the State will be provided with another accessory means that will be made available to the Portuguese for medical emergencies”, after this year the Government turned to the Air Force to guarantee emergency transport, a transitional solution given the impossibility of the company (Gulf Med) to which the service was awarded to start the operation on July 1st, as provided for in the contract signed with INEM.
In his initial intervention, the governor and president of the CDS-PP highlighted that the budget for the Detached National Forces had increased to 148 million euros (58.4% more than estimated for this year and almost double the budget for 2025) and anticipated that next year the Portuguese military will be involved in “43 missions and 62 engagements”.