Agusta A.106

A.106
Agusta A.106 maiden flight
General information
Type	Light anti-submarine warfare helicopter
Manufacturer	Agusta
Status	Retired
Primary user	Italian Navy
Number built	2
History
First flight	November 1965
Retired	1973

The Agusta A.106 was a single-seat light helicopter designed to provide an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platform for the Impavido-class destroyers of the Italian Navy. The aircraft was provided with a sophisticated electronics suite by Ferranti for autostabilisation and contact identification. Two torpedoes could be slung under the fuselage. The tail and two-bladed main rotor could be folded for shipboard stowage, and the skid undercarriage had fittings for flotation bags.

Two prototypes were built, the first flying in November 1965. A pre-production batch of 5 was cancelled by the Navy in 1973.

Operators

  Italy

• Italian Navy (Marina Militare) for evaluation only

Specifications

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1969-70 ^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 8.00 m (26 ft 3 in)
• Height: 2.5 m (8 ft 2.5 in)
• Empty weight: 590 kg (1,300 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,400 kg (3,086 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Turbomeca-Agusta TA.230 , 224 kW (300 hp)
• Main rotor diameter: 9.50 m (31 ft 2 in)
• Main rotor area: 70.9 m² (763 sq ft)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 176 km/h (109 mph, 95 kn)
• Range: 740 km (460 mi, 400 nmi) ^[2]
• Endurance: 4 hours 30 minutes
• Service ceiling: 3,000 m (9,800 ft) ^[3]
• Rate of climb: 6.2 m/s (1,220 ft/min)

Armament

• 2 × Mk.44 torpedoes or
• 10 × depth charges or
• 2 × 7.62 mm machine-guns and 10 × 80 mm rockets

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Westland Wasp

References

1. Taylor 1969, p.124.
2. Max internal and external fuel.
3. Hovering ceiling.

• Taylor, John W.R. (1969). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1969-70. London: Jane's Yearbooks.
• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 40.
• Simpson, R. W. (1998). Airlife's Helicopters and Rotorcraft. Ramsbury: Airlife Publishing. pp. 32, 36.