AgustaWestland AW149
| AW149 | |
|---|---|
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| AW149 at RIAT 2015 | |
| Role | Medium-lift military helicopter |
| Manufacturer |
Leonardo Finmeccanica AgustaWestland |
| First flight | 13 November 2009 |
| Developed from | AgustaWestland AW139 |
| Variants | AgustaWestland AW189 |
The AgustaWestland AW149 is a medium-lift military helicopter developed by AgustaWestland, now Leonardo. On 20 June 2011 AgustaWestland announced the AW189, a civilian development of the AW149, for service in 2013.
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. On 13 November 2009, the first prototype conducted its first flight from AgustaWestland's Vergiate manufacturing facility in northern Italy. On 26 February 2011, the second prototype, the first with production model engines, made its first flight from Vergiate.
AgustaWestland submitted a version of the AW149, designated TUHP149, as a candidate for the Turkish Utility Helicopter Programme (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. On 21 April 2011, the Turkish defence minister announced that the Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk had been selected as the winner.
AgustaWestland hoped to have military certification of the in-development AW149 helicopter in a baseline configuration by the end of 2013. Italy's Armaereo military certification body will be presented with a baseline model with no mission equipment, countermeasures, or ballistic protection, which will be customer-specific items and require a second country-specific certification process. 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, but has yet to find a customer. The Italian Air Force considered it as a search and rescue helicopter, but chose the lighter AW139M.
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