SARMeet 2025

The Galileo Search And Rescue meeting has become a firm favorite from military Search and Rescue helicopters units for many years now. This year being hosted by 243rd Helicopter Squadron, 24th Wing, Czech Air Force at the 24th Transport Air Force Base , Prague-Kbely Airbase having won the 2023 SARMeet hosted by Naval Air Wing 5, German Navy at Nordholz Airfield.

As always the format of the meet saw participating units complete in a number of challenges as well as attending a series lectures and presentations from invited guests and demonstrations of various pieces of technical apparatus from industry partners. The meet started with participating aircraft arriving into Prague on the Monday. Tuesday began with dead on 0930hrs local time a very unusual formation was lead out by Handy01 a PZL-Swidnik W-3A Sokol of the hosts followed by German Army H145, Germany Navy Lynx Mk.88 and Lithuanian AS365N3+, a trio of MIl-17 from the Czech Air Force was next up followed by a Slovak UH-60 with a NH-90 from Spain and Belgian following it up on either side bringing up the rear was the mighty AW101 from Norway. Whilst Handy21 was a very handy photo ship with both front and rear side doors being occupied by photographers.  The formation transited to Plzeň Líně Airbase were the testing of their search and rescue skills began starting off with dropping a marker on to a target, followed by a rescue scenario in the Czech wilderness, returning to Prague-Kbely in staggered intervals to complete the final two parts of the challenge first of a spot landing the final one being a challenge which SARMeet has become infamous for the hoist challenge, the objective being to complete the slalom obstacle course with a weighted tyre attached to the winch cable with penalties being added for the tyre being too high, touching the ground or hitting one of the slalom cones before setting the tyre down on top of the final oil drum all this is carried out without any physical contact of the winchman all they’re able to do is guide the winch operation using hand signals. a real test of crew resource management. The next task involved involved the winchman being picked up on the wire and then guiding the crew in so that they could drop a medicine ball into a hoop much harder than it sounds when no throwing is aloud, the final test being the simple task of hooking a hoop off the ground with a grappling hook attached to the winch cable once again with no involvement for the winch operator after that all that was left was for the winchman to be hoisted back into the aircraft and then return to parking. There were some surprising resulting the German Navy Westland Super Lynx Mk.88A carried out the task extremely confidently with tittle if any errors a excellent result for an aircraft and crew who primary mission is not SAR. Previous hosts 40 Squadron, Belgian Air Component with their NH Industries NH90-NFH contradicted the growing contentious that the NH-90 is not a valuable asset carrying out the tasking  at speed and even managing to get a bit patriotic with the Belgian flag flying on the winch line on departure. An airframe that we thought with all the technology it has abord including a four axis auto pilot it would have breezed the through the task, however it appeared that that enormous downwash of the Royal Norwegian Air Force AgustaWestland AW101 Mk.612 hindered the crew.

There was two fixed wing participants of SARMeet from the 533rd UAS Unit, Czech Air Force, a Primoco UAV One 150M and from the Austrian AustroControl was a Cessna 182P Skylane. The Primoco UAV One 150M was airborne for the entirety of the winch challenge, hats off to the air traffic control authorities and the 533rd UAS Unit, Czech Air Force operating in a very congested airspace with helicopters operating underneath and arrivals into Prague-Ruzyne Václav Havel Airport above and General Aviation traffic from Prague-Letnany Airfield 500 meters to the north of Prague-Kbely Airbase. Whilst the AustroControl Cessna 182P Skylane had transited to Plzeň Líně Airbase earlier than the helicopter formation and was last to arrive back just as the weather began to turn having completed its own tasking on what looked to be a search/survey of the vltava river.

As well as the hoist challenge a small static display was put on by the 243rd Helicopter Squadron, 24th Wing, Czech Air Force in the shape of PZL-Swidnik W-3A Sokol, Mil Mi-8PS-11, Mil Mi-17 and a Mil Mi-171Sh of the 222nd Helicopter Squadron, 22nd Wing, Czech Air Force. Industry partners also brought a number of drones in the shape of Liaz SkySpotter 152, Wingtra Ray, Primoco UAV One 150M AND High Eye Airboxer. 

Day three and four saw the crews and invited guests attend the European Union Agency for the space programme for a series of lectures from the likes of David Poudevigne head of FMCC, the French operational center for International Cospas-Sarsat Programme, in Toulouse and Kenneth Bahr  a Senior Adviser on Satellite Navigation at the Norwegian Space Agency who presented on “SAR in the Arctic”. Galileo is the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) developed and operated by the European Union through the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). It is Europe’s answer to other GNSS systems like the American GPS, Russian GLONASS, and Chinese BeiDou. Key Features include Independence: Galileo is fully civilian-controlled and designed to be independent of other global systems, ensuring Europe has reliable positioning data even during political or military conflicts. High Precision: It offers more accurate positioning than most other GNSS, with accuracy down to under 1 meter for public users, and even better for commercial and governmental services. Global Coverage: Galileo provides worldwide coverage, with a growing constellation of satellites in medium Earth orbit (as of 2025, it aims for 30 satellites in full operation). Compatibility: Devices using GPS, GLONASS, or BeiDou can often use Galileo simultaneously, improving accuracy and reliability. Services Offered: 1, Open Service (OS): Free for public use, offering accurate positioning and timing. 2, High Accuracy Service (HAS): Provides even more precise positioning using corrections. 3, Public Regulated Service (PRS): Encrypted for government-authorized use (e.g., police, military, emergency).4, Search and Rescue Service (SAR): Part of the international Cospas-Sarsat system, helping locate people in distress. Galileo is operational with over two dozen satellites, though still undergoing upgrades and expansion to reach full capacity and maximum accuracy. Galileo enhances Europe’s technological independence, supports innovation (e.g., autonomous vehicles, smart cities), and provides critical infrastructure for navigation, transport, emergency response, and more.

At the closing ceremony a number of award’s were presented, 330 Squadron, Royal Norwegian Air Force walking away as the winner of the Rescue Challenge. The Mi-17 crew from243rd Helicopter Squadron, 24th Wing, Czech Air Force won both the Ground Crew Challenge and The Hoist Challenge. whilst taking two trophies in the shape of the Navigation and Search Challenge Trophy along with the overall winner of SARMeet 2025 back to Niederstetten is the 7th Squadron, 30th Regiment, German Army and their Airbus H145M. Subject to approval by their chain of command we will see the next SARMeet being hosted by 7th Squadron, 30th Regiment in Germany.

South West Aviation Photographers would like to thank everyone at 243rd Helicopter Squadron, 24th Wing, Czech Air Force at the 24th Transport Air Force Base , Prague-Kbely Airbase for making this article possible.

Article by Matt Sudol 

© South West Aviation Photographers 2025