smaller AW139, whose production rate
has tripled since 2004, to 90 aircraft/year,
to meet sustained demand.
In fact, the AW139 accounted for 20
of the 50 orders Agusta Westland booked
through the first five months of the year,
and although civil orders have slowed
down, company officials are confident that
the military market will more than make
up for this dip.
The Italian Air Force’s long-deferred
order for a new search and rescue helicopter to replace its venerable HH-3Fs is now
expected to be awarded by the end of the
year, and is expected to cover between 12
and 15 AW-101s. (Note that Agusta Westland has now adopted the AW designation for all of its helicopters, including the
A-109 and the EH-101).
Also in AW’s backlog are the Future
Lynx (now AW159 Wildcat) for the UK,
the ICH- 47 Chinook for the Italian Army
and, of course, the NH-90 program, in
which AW has a 32 percent share. After
many teething problems and delays,
NH-90 production is slowly increasing,
and the consortium should deliver as many
as 42 helicopters this year, including those
held over from 2008 for various reasons.
NH Industries, the NH-90’s prime
contractor, exhibited for the first time in
flight an NFH-90 naval variant, this one
belonging to the Italian navy and fitted
with a complete mission system as well as a
heavy store carrier, an MU90 torpedo, and
a Marte MK2/S anti-ship missile.
At the air show, AW also unveiled the
latest variant of the AW101 medium lift
helicopter. Featuring new, more efficient
BERP IV main rotor blades, more powerful
engines, a new cockpit display system and
a new, up-rated tail rotor, this new version
(as yet unnamed) increases payload by
over 900 kg ( 2,000 lbs) when operating in
“hot and high” conditions, and allow the
AW101 to operate at its current 15,600 kg
maximum all up weight as well as at the
higher takeoff weights that AW plans for
the future.
With 226 helicopters delivered in 2008,
and new orders steadily if unspectacularly coming in, securing and increasing its
production capabilities is a continuing
objective for AgustaWestland. The company is mulling the acquisition of Poland’s
Pezetel, for example, which has built more
than 1,000 of its cabins, and remains a
highly-qualified yet affordable alternative to
outsourcing to the other side of the world.
Eurocopter also brought an almost-new
product to the Paris Air Show, in this case
a full-scale mock-up of the EC175 that it
is developing jointly with China’s Harbin
Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG) for the
civil market, and which made its European
debut at Le Bourget. Eurocopter says the
program is on course for its first flight at the
end of the year, and it sees a potential market
for more than 800 aircraft over the next 20
years. Surprisingly, however, the number of
orders still stands at 111 units, and has thus
not increased since the aircraft was unveiled
at the 2008 HAI. Or, taking the opposite
view, the program has so far weathered the
recession without a single cancellation.
Most, if not all, of these EC175s will
go to commercial customers. Another
Eurasian product, the Korean Helicopter
Program, which should also make its
maiden flight by year-end, is intended as
Eurocopter’s lead military product in the
medium twin market.
Launched in 2006 by the Korean government as an UH-1 replacement, the
KHP is a joint venture between Eurocopter
and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).
The Korean military are to take 250 aircraft, and a similar number is expected to
be sold, primarily by Eurocopter, on the
international market, where it will directly
face-off with the AW149. Both are similar
in terms of size, both are due to make their
first flights by year-end, and both should be
ready for initial production by 2012–2013.
Interestingly, the KHP is to weigh 8
metric tons, compared to 8.1 tons for
the AW149, but it is designed to carry 12
equipped soldiers, rather than the 18 that
AW sees as the capacity of the AW149.
Another Eurocopter initiative was the
unveiling of a Stand-Alone Weapon System
(SAWS) which, although exhibited on an
AS550 Fennec, can be fitted to any of the
company’s light and medium helicopters.
The SAWS is composed of a core, including
a mission and firing control computer with
controls and interfaces, and a choice of sensors (FLIR, TV, HUD, etc.), guided (such as
the Denel Ingwe laser-guided missile) and
unguided weapons, such as rockets and
guns. The company says it is intended to
satisfy increased market demand for armed
helicopters by offering an easily configu-rable and modular package.
During the show, Eurocopter’s Tiger
HAP attack helicopter performed daily
flight demonstrations. Tiger recently qualified for operational service with the French
Army, which plans to deploy three Tigers
to Afghanistan later this year.
The company continues to compete for
military aftermarket business. During the
show, it announced that it had won a contract to retrofit 26 German Army CH-53G
helicopters for personnel recovery missions; the contract is valued at 25 million
