its fleet, the Portuguese Navy created a work group () to study the purchase of new ships, including new frigates. This work group also proposed the acquisition of helicopters to equip the new frigates. However, mostly due to lack of funds, a decision wasn't made to acquire new equipment. Finally in the middle of the 1980s, with the continuation of the Cold War and the need to modernize the naval fleet, a decision was made to purchase new frigates with the capacity to operate helicopters. At the end of the decade of 1980, the Navy started evaluating both the Kaman SH-2 Seasprite and Westland Lynx as the frigate's on-board helicopters. In August 1988 a group of officers were sent to Plymouth, United Kingdom to undergo the Air Engineer Application Course, at the Royal Naval Engineering College, to start receiving training in aerodynamics, shipborne aeronautical systems, engine maintenance, and the control and certification of all maintenance procedures. In April 1989 the officers continued their training at HMS Daedalus, and later were divided into two groups and sent to receive their certifications at 829 Naval Air Squadron and 715 Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy Air Arm. Having returned to Portugal in October 1989, the officers that underwent training in the United Kingdom integrated a new work group for the acquisition of the naval helicopters (, GTAH). In December 1989 the final decision was made to acquire five Westland Super Lynx Mk.95 helicopters. The Navy's Helicopter Squadron was officially created on June 2, 1993, with the mission of training the helicopter maintenance personnel and on-board helicopter operations crews, support the flotilla, naval units and embarked helicopter detachments, and maintain two helicopter detachments. The squadron was activated on June 8, 1993, and was based at the Montijo Air Base, with its facilities being inaugurated on September 24 of the same year and the first two helicopters having been delivered on July 29. In 1995, the first helicopter detachment was formed and started on-board operations. Currently, the Naval Aviation operates the Lynx helicopters from the Vasco da Gama-class and s. Since the reactivation of the Naval Aviation it was decided to use the available Air Force's logistics and training infrastructure to reduce costs and improve the overall unit performance. As such, officers are selected from the Naval School and then undergo flight training at the Air Force on the Aérospatiale Epsilon TB-30 with