Last flight Guardia di Finanza AB412HP

On 13 March 2025, the Italian Guardia di Finanza (GdiF) ended at Pratica di Mare (RM) the operations with the trustfully Agusta-Bell 412HP Grifone helicopter. AB412HP MM81506/GF-218, one of the four Alpino versions, made a tour along the Servizio Aereo Guardia di Finanza bases with special markings applied.

The GdiF, also known colloquially as Fiamme Gialle (Yellow Flames), is an Italian military law enforcement agency under the authority of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It is a police force with a military structure and is primarily responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling. The Servizio Aereo Guardia di Finanza is equipped with both fixed- and rotary-wing machines and the air service’s symbol is a Volpe (fox), which is also the radio callsign for the aircraft.

The AB412HP was introduced in 1993 and was an important component of the Servizio Aereo Guardia di Finanza. It was used for missions both at sea and in the mountains. They received 22 units, four of which were converted to a mountain variant to operate in the Alps and Dolomites. This Alpino version has higher skids and als differs in the avionics package.

The radar, FLIR and floats of the standard AB412HP can be easily removed for mountain operations, thus reducing the weight by 350kg, a very important factor when working at high altitudes. The plexiglas windows on the upper side are normal and not in a green color and it has no internal fuselage tank.

Already four helicopters are sold to Niger (MM81442, MM81451, MM81452 and MM81456) and one example (MM81454/GF-209) is preserved at the Museo Storico del Servizio Aereo GdF at Pratica di Mare (RM) near Rome.

Credit photos: Maurizio Di Terlizzi