NPAS National Award for £100m Fleet Replacement Programme

The National Police Air Service (NPAS), including colleagues from the Blue Light Commercial (BLC), has been honoured by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Operations Committee for exceptional work on the UK’s £100 million police helicopter fleet replacement programme.

A specialist team – Scott Gallagher MBE, Pete Botchett, Glenn Shelley, PC Neil Cuffe, Paul Watts, Jo Osborne, Deb Walker, Tasha Vaughan, Steven Jones, Billie Heafield, Gavin Allerton, Steph Leaver and Rachel Kelly – received the award in recognition of their dedication and technical expertise in designing and developing the next generation of NPAS aircraft.

Over several years, the team has played a central role in shaping the engineering, technical design and delivery model that will bring seven new helicopters into service. Their work ensures the aircraft will be among the most advanced police helicopters operating anywhere in the world, supporting law enforcement, search and rescue, and emergency response across England and Wales.

The award was presented by Chief Constable BJ Harrington QPM, Chair of the NPCC Operations Committee, during the Committee’s meeting on Wednesday 11 March, held at the Police and Security Show at Farnborough Exhibition Centre.

The official citation praised the team for:

“Outstanding professionalism, dedication, and expertise in developing the fleet replacement business case enabling the successful delivery of seven new helicopters into the NPAS fleet. Your work will strengthen our national aviation capability, providing a sustainable aviation service for the future that ensures operational resilience, and will make a lasting contribution to public safety.”

The fleet replacement programme represents a significant investment in national policing capability, ensuring NPAS can continue to provide vital air support to police forces and partner agencies for years to come.

Congratulations to the team on this national recognition of their exceptional work.