20:20 GMT, November 13, 2009 AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that the first AW159 multi-role military helicopter successfully completed its maiden flight at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil facility today with AgustaWestland Chief Test Pilot, Donald Maclaine, at the controls. The aircraft completed a range of general handling checks during the flight and performed as expected. It will be joined by two further aircraft in 2010 to complete the flight testing of the AW159 and the wide range of role equipment the aircraft will carry.

Giuseppe Orsi, CEO, AgustaWestland, said “The successful first flight of the AW159 is great company achievement. Designed and developed to meet the UK MoD’s demanding requirements for a multi-role military helicopter the AW159 will be the most cost effective, capable and advanced helicopter in its class. Our highly skilled engineers and technicians can be proud to have achieved this remarkable result on schedule and on budget, so confirming our commitment to maintaining critical design, engineering and technological know-how in the UK to go on effectively supporting the MoD.” Nick Whitney, VP UK Government Business Unit, AgustaWestland, watching the historic event said “It gives me great pleasure to see the AW159 flying exactly on schedule as we promised in June 2006 when the contract was signed.

The fact the AW159 programme has achieved every major milestone on time and on budget is great testament to the Strategic Partnering Arrangement and the commitment of our supply chain. The AW159 promises to continue the remarkable success the Lynx has achieved in service worldwide and we, along with our partners, are now focused on completing the development of the aircraft and delivering the first aircraft in 2011.”

The maiden flight of the AW159, which will be known as Lynx Wildcat in UK military service, marks a major milestone in the development of this new six-ton multi-role military helicopter, 62 of which have been ordered by the UK Ministry of Defence for the Army and Royal Navy, to perform both land and maritime missions. The first aircraft will be delivered in 2011 with the aircraft becoming fully operational with the Army in 2014 and the Royal Navy in 2015. The British Army’s AW159 Lynx Wildcat will perform a wide range of tasks on the battlefield including reconnaissance, command and control, transportation of troops and materiel, and the provision of force protection.

The Royal Navy variant will provide an agile maritime capability providing anti-surface warfare capability and force protection and will operate in support of amphibious operations and be an important element in defending ships against surface threats. There will be a high degree of commonality between the Army and Royal Navy helicopters that will mean that an aircraft can switch roles easily, principally through the changing of role equipment.

The AW159 is powered by two new generation CTS800 engines, each capable of continuously producing 1281 shp giving the aircraft exceptional hot and high performance. The aircraft has an all up mass of 5790 kg with a built in capability to increase that to 6250 kg. The cockpit includes a fully integrated display system utilising four 10x8 inch primary displays. Sensors include a nose mounted IR/TV imager with built in laser designator and for the maritime variant the Selex Galileo 7400E 360 degree active array radar. The AW159 also has a comprehensive integrated defensive aids suite comprising a missile warning system, radar warning receivers and a countermeasures dispensing system.

Additionally the AW159 will be capable of carrying a range of weapons including machine guns, torpedoes, depth charges and the Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon (FASGW). The AW159 programme for the UK MoD continues to be on time and on budget and was the first major project to be awarded under the Strategic Partnering Arrangement signed by the UK Ministry of Defence and AgustaWestland in June 2006. AgustaWestland has also signed partnering agreements with a number of key supplier on the AW159 programme including Selex Galileo, a Finmeccanica company; GKN Aerospace, LHTEC – a partnership between Rolls-Royce and Honeywell, General Dynamics UK, Thales UK and GE Aviation.


First prototype of the AW149 completes maiden flight

Furthremore, AgustaWestland today announced that the first prototype of the AW149 multi-role military medium twin helicopter successfully completed its maiden flight on November 13th at AgustaWestland’s Vergiate plant. The aircraft, flown by AgustaWestland Chief Test Pilot Giuseppe Lo Coco, performed as expected undertaking a 20 minutes flight that included an assessment of the helicopter’s general handling and basic systems. The first helicopter will be followed by a second prototype in 2010 with the aim to achieve initial operational capability in 2014.

Giuseppe Orsi, CEO, AgustaWestland, commented “The maiden flight of the AW149 adds to the recently accomplished first flights of the T129, the AW101 in the latest variant and AW159, confirming the company’s capability to continuously develop new products to maintain its competitive edge and to offer the market the most complete and modern product range”. Bruno Spagnolini, COO, AgustaWestland said “We are proud to have achieved this major milestone seeing the only new generation medium twin military helicopter take to the air. AgustaWestland is once more demonstrating its ability to develop the very latest rotorcraft technology designed to meet a range of requirements”.

The first AW149 prototype is fully representative of the AW149 final configuration with respect to the airframe and avionics, whilst the second prototype will fly in the final configuration incorporating two 2000 shp class GE CT7-2E1 turbines with FADEC and an all new transmission system. With a fully digital avionics system with open architecture and fully integrated mission equipment, a modern glass cockpit and a 4-axis auto-pilot, the AW149 8 ton class helicopter is specifically designed for modern battlefield operations. The AW149 is fitted with the latest all weather day-night operational capabilities, dedicated avionics and a NVG-compatible cockpit, while rotor ice protection will be available as an option.

The AW149, by its open architecture design, will be capable of being fitted with role equipment and systems as required by the customer to perform a wide range of roles and also to be easily re-roled or upgraded to meet future requirements. Advanced sensors, communication and data sharing systems provide high situational awareness for network-centric environments.

The AW149, capable of seating up to 18 troops, is perfectly suited to perform a wide range of duties such as troop transport, battlefield and logistic operations, fire support, SAR and combat SAR, special forces operations, reconnaissance, surveillance, CASEVAC, command control & communication, external load lifting as well as VIP military transport. The AW149 has been developed to meet the Italian Air Force requirement for a new medium class SAR helicopter.

The AW149 is also being offered in the marketplace to meet the demand for a modern technology helicopter to replace thousands of older generation helicopters in service with military operators worldwide. A customised version of the AW149, named the TUHP149, is the candidate for the Turkish Utility Helicopter Programme (TUHP).