AgustaWestland Wildcat
| AW159 Wildcat | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Wildcat HMA2 naval variant in 2013 | |
| Role | Utility, SAR and ASuW helicopter |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer |
AgustaWestland Leonardo (since 2016) |
| First flight | 12 November 2009 |
| Introduction | 29 August 2014 (AH1) |
| Primary users |
British Army Royal Navy |
| Produced | 2009-present |
| Developed from | Westland Super Lynx |
 Inflight video of AW159
|
The AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat (previously called the Future Lynx and Lynx Wildcat) is an improved version of the Westland Super Lynx military helicopter designed to serve in the battlefield utility, search and rescue and anti-surface warfare roles. In British service, common variants are being operated by both the Royal Navy and British Army to replace their ageing Lynx Mk.7/8/9 rotorcraft. The AW159 has also been offered to several export customers, and has been ordered by the Republic of Korea Navy and the Philippine Navy.
In 1995, the British Government announced that the Royal Navy's existing Westland Lynx helicopters were to be replaced; at that point, the service was intended to operate an all-Merlin fleet. Despite this stated intent, Westland Helicopters continued to hold talks with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to find a future role for the type during the late 1990s; the firm issued multiple proposals to either extend the life of the existing Super Lynx through upgrade programmes or more ambitious remanufacturing programmes incorporating varying degrees of new components. In 2002, the Future Lynx project originated in two studies to determine the suitability of a derivative of the Super Lynx 300 to replace the existing Lynx helicopters of the Royal Navy and British Army. These requirements were known as the Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft (SCMR) and Battlefield Light Utility Helicopter (BLUH) programmes, respectively.
In July 2002, AgustaWestland received a contract to conduct a formal assessment phase of the Future Lynx. On 22 July 2002, a collaboration agreement was signed between AgustaWestland and Thales Group, under which Thales was assigned development responsibility for the programme's core avionics, including communications, navigation, and flight management electronics; that same day, additional MOD funding for the fledgling Future Lynx programme was announced as having been allocated. By April 2003, the in-service dates for the BLUH and SCMR programmes were reported as being April 2007 and April 2008 respectively. Early on, AgustaWestland elected to adopt a glass cockpit incorporating electronics upgrades from the AgustaWestland AW101 along with various airframe improvements, such as a redesigned tail rotor and nose, as well as an increased use of machined components over fabricated counterparts, for the Future Lynx. By July 2004, the option of upgrading and remanufacturing the first generation Lynx had reportedly been judged to be uneconomical, and the BLUH programme of building a new generation airframe had been given prominence instead.
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