GMP
When GMP made a case for getting the Defender it was sold to the bosses as a multi role aircraft leaning mainly towards surveillance but available to cover routine work when the Explorer was down. “Helicopter cover” worked well when we could get the height, the “helicopter heights” I was refering to was the 1000-1500 ft zone which the rotary was happy underneath the Manchester clag! The defender 4000 was more than capable of operating at those heights but it wasnt very agile and that coupled with the hi-tec (at the time) MX15 surveillance fit meant it struggled to provide true helicopter cover. However get up to flight levels over Manchester 6000-10,000 ft and it was awesome. It was possible to fly a lazy orbit or figure of 8 over the city and cover a huge area. Monitoring divisional channels it was possible to slew the camera with accuracy onto jobs in progress within seconds. The 24 hr operation was usually a force/divisional asset at night and mainly a surveillance asset during the day supporting the specialists. I didnt say other forces didnt operate successfully its just GMP took it to the next level !
Before we took delivery of our own defender we went to Hampshire and “Borrowed” their Defender to train and practice our own tactics so we were up and running for the commonwealt games.
Our operation was seen as a ground breaker which was eyed (and visited)with envy from units (civil & military) from all over the world.
The Defender wasnt perfect but it provided GMP and the wider UK agencies an amazing surveillance asset, it was struck down during austerity cuts to save GMP a £million, a figure which seems tiny by todays government spending.
I was very proud of what we at GMP and all the other ASUs provided to their forces and end users (Bobbies on the ground) that is why I look on in dismay at what remains of Police aviation in this country.