For most helicopter units, the mission profile is relatively easy to define. Search and Rescue (SAR), military transport, maritime patrol or law enforcement might each form the core role for a specialist, rotary-equipped, aviation organisation. In Mauritius, however, those boundaries are considerably less clear. Although the Mauritius Police Force’s Police Helicopter Squadron (PHS) operates only a small fleet of machines (three HAL Chetaks and one Aérospatiale SA 316B Alouette III, three HAL Dhruvs and an Airbus Helicopters AS555 UN Fennec 2), it is expected to cover an extraordinary range of tasks. “SAR is one of our key mandates given our geographic location and large tourism industry,” explained Superintendent

Sachin Santuck, a Mauritian PHS pilot with almost 25 years of flying experience. “The squadron maintains a 24-hour capability, with crews prepared to respond to incidents at sea or on land.” Mauritius presents a particularly demanding operational environment for such a unit. The island, located some 1,100 nautical miles southeast of Africa, combines mountainous and forested terrain with a large maritime operating area, while the surrounding Indian Ocean is home to busy commercial shipping routes.

The country’s tourist economy adds another dimension, with thrill-seeking visitors increasingly trekking to remote locations over challenging terrain that can be difficult for the rescue services to traverse should something go wrong. The unit maintains close ties with the Mauritius Police Force’s National Coast Guard, with whom it shares hangar space at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. When the National Coast Guard identifies a helicopter requirement, the request is passed through police headquarters and the appropriate command channels, while the crew across the hangar begins preparing for the mission. Abhishek Shukla, the current commander of the PHS, maintains a direct line to the commandant of the National Coast Guard. That means operational coordination and formal approval can take place while the crew get ready to launch.

When it comes to law enforcement, the PHS is frequently involved in supporting anti-drug trafficking operations. With Mauritius sitting astride important shipping routes, the police helicopter can support National Coast Guard efforts when dealing with suspicious vessels at sea. The helicopters provide reach and an elevated perspective, while also giving maritime forces the ability to put specialist personnel where they are needed.

There is no separate helicopter organisation for every conceivable mission, however. Instead, one aviation unit must be able to move between roles, often with little warning. A SAR sortie may be followed by a policing mission, a transport task or a maritime operation. And the environment is rarely forgiving.

Nah helicopters are obsolete because of drones right? We can just replace a narrow range of these capabilities with a much cheaper drone and problem solved! Right? Oh well we already cut all the funding for helicopters and fired all the pilots trust us we are techbros!