AW149 | |
---|---|
AW149 over RIAT in 2022 | |
Role | Medium-lift military helicopter |
National origin | Italy |
Manufacturer | AgustaWestland Finmeccanica Leonardo S.p.A. |
First flight | 13 November 2009 |
Status | In service |
Primary users | Egyptian Navy Royal Thai Army Polish Army |
Produced | 2009-present |
Developed from | AgustaWestland AW139 |
Variants | AgustaWestland AW189 |
The AgustaWestland AW149 is a medium-lift multi-role military helicopter developed by AgustaWestland, now Leonardo, launched in 2006. On 20 June 2011 AgustaWestland announced the AW189, a civilian development of the AW149, for service in 2013. [1]
The AW149 was unveiled at the 2006 Farnborough Air Show. Derived from the AW139, the AW149 has a larger fuselage and more powerful engines, resulting in a greater cargo volume and payload carrying ability. [2] On 13 November 2009, the first prototype conducted its first flight from AgustaWestland's Vergiate manufacturing facility in northern Italy. [3] On 26 February 2011, the second prototype, the first with production model engines, made its first flight from Vergiate. [4]
Military certification for the AW149 was announced by Finmeccanica at the 2014 Farnborough airshow. [5] The landing gear can sustain a touchdown with a sink speed of 9.5 m/s, compared with the 2 m/s for a civilian helicopter. The AW149 is being marketed as an alternative to the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk family. Thailand has ordered 5 AW149 helicopters, and is the first export customer. [6] [7] The Italian Air Force considered it as a search and rescue helicopter, but chose the lighter AW139M instead.
In April 2019, the Egyptian Navy ordered 24 AW149s with option for 10 more; first deliveries took place in late 2020. [8] [9] [10]
AgustaWestland submitted a version of the AW149, designated TUHP149, as a candidate for the Turkish Utility Helicopter Program (TUHP) for the Turkish Armed Forces. The programme sought an initial batch of 109 helicopters worth $4 billion, prospective follow-on orders for subsequent batches may eventually rise to 300 rotorcraft. [11] [12] On 21 April 2011, the Turkish defence minister announced that the Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk had been selected as the winner. [13]
Leonardo has proposed the AW149 for the UK's New Medium Helicopter programme, which aims to replace the RAF's Puma helicopters, with production to be at Leonardo's Yeovil factory if the bid is successful. [14]
In June 2022 Polish defence minister said Poland would order 32 AW149 helicopters, with production to be at Leonardo's PZL Świdnik factory. [15] [16] [17] The contract was signed on July 1, 2022, and has a value of $1.85 billion (€1.76 billion). Delivery planned in years 2023-2029. [18] [19]
Data fromAgustaWestland. [23]
General characteristics
Performance
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) competition in 1972. The Army designated the prototype as the YUH-60A and selected the Black Hawk as the winner of the program in 1976, after a fly-off competition with the Boeing Vertol YUH-61.
The AgustaWestland AW101 is a medium-lift helicopter in military and civil use. First flown in 1987, it was developed by a joint venture between Westland Helicopters in the United Kingdom and Agusta in Italy in response to national requirements for a modern naval utility helicopter. Several operators, including the armed forces of Britain, Denmark, and Portugal, use the name Merlin for their AW101 aircraft. It is manufactured at factories in Yeovil, England, and Vergiate, Italy. Licensed assembly work has also taken place in Japan and the United States.
The AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant is the Canadian Forces designation for the AgustaWestland AW101, a helicopter used for air-sea rescue in Canada. Developed from AgustaWestland in Italy, the CH-149 is a medium-lift helicopter for military applications.
AgustaWestland was an Anglo-Italian helicopter design and manufacturing company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica. It was formed in July 2000 as an Anglo-Italian multinational company, when Finmeccanica and GKN merged their respective helicopter subsidiaries to form AgustaWestland, with each holding a 50% share. Finmeccanica acquired GKN's stake in AgustaWestland in 2004.
The Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 is a turboshaft engine produced by Safran Helicopter Engines. It was originally conceived and manufactured by Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Limited, a joint venture between Rolls-Royce plc and Turbomeca. The engine was designed to suit a wide range of military and commercial helicopter designs. The RTM322 can also be employed in maritime and industrial applications.
The AgustaWestlandAW609, formerly the Bell/Agusta BA609, is a twin-engined tiltrotor VTOL aircraft with a configuration similar to that of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. It is capable of landing vertically like a helicopter while having a range and speed in excess of conventional rotorcraft. The AW609 is aimed at the civil aviation market, in particular VIP customers and offshore oil and gas operators.
The Sikorsky S-76 is a medium-size commercial utility helicopter designed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It is the company's first helicopter specifically developed for the civilian market.
The Sikorsky S-92 is an American twin-engine medium-lift helicopter built by Sikorsky Aircraft for the civil and military helicopter markets. The S-92 was developed from the Sikorsky S-70 helicopter and has similar parts such as flight control and rotor systems.
The AgustaWestland AW139, now known as the Leonardo AW139, is a 15-seat medium-sized twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, now part of Leonardo. It is marketed at several different roles, including VIP/corporate transport, military use, offshore transport, firefighting, law enforcement, search and rescue, emergency medical service, disaster relief, and maritime patrol.
The General Electric T700 and CT7 are a family of turboshaft and turboprop engines in the 1,500–3,000 shp (1,100–2,200 kW) class.
The AgustaWestland AW119 Koala, produced by Leonardo since 2016, is an eight-seat utility helicopter powered by a single turboshaft engine produced for the civil market. Introduced as the Agusta A119 Koala prior to the Agusta-Westland merger, it is targeted at operators favoring lower running costs of a single-engine aircraft over the redundancy of a twin.
The TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK is a twin-engine, tandem seat, multi-role, all-weather attack helicopter based on the Agusta A129 Mangusta platform. It was developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in partnership with Leonardo S.p.A. The helicopter is designed for armed reconnaissance and attack missions in hot and high environments and rough geography in both day and night conditions.
Gulf Helicopters Company (GHC) is a Qatari helicopter services provider mainly servicing the oil and gas industry in Middle East, North Africa and Asia. It is a 100% subsidiary of Gulf International Services under the QatarEnergy umbrella, and has its headquarters in Doha, Qatar. Gulf Helicopters services include offshore operations IFR/VFR, emergency medical services, VIP executive transport, support of commercial short-term contracts, load lifting -long & short line, seismic support, onshore transport, tourist flights, aerial photo flights, aerial advertising and banner flying. The company operates a fleet of 54 helicopters and has 300+ employees. They also have clients in Malta, Libya, South Africa, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran, Pakistan, India, Thailand & Malaysia.
Lease Corporation International is a company based in Dublin, Ireland, which offers a wide range of aircraft leasing to various airlines. LCI is a subsidiary of Libra Group, which is headed by George Logothetis.
The AgustaWestland AW189 is a twin-engined, super-medium-lift helicopter manufactured by Leonardo S.p.A. It is derived from the AW149, and shares similarities with the AW139 and AW169.
The AgustaWestland AW169 is a twin-engine, 10-seat, 4.8t helicopter developed and manufactured by the helicopter division of Leonardo. It was designed to share similarities with the larger AgustaWestland AW139 and AgustaWestland AW189.
The Bell 525 Relentless is an American super-medium-lift helicopter, under development by Bell Textron. The Bell 525 was unveiled at the 2012 Heli-Expo in Dallas, Texas in February 2012. The helicopter first flew on 1 July 2015. It is designed to transport up to 19 passengers.
The Leonardo Helicopters AW249 Fenice is an attack helicopter project under development by the Italian firm Leonardo S.p.A.
The New Medium Helicopter (NMH) is a British military programme to procure a new medium-lift support helicopter to replace several existing helicopters operated by the Royal Air Force and British Army. It is expected the new aircraft will enter service during the mid-2020s.