AgustaWestland AW149

AW149
The AW 149 in April 2012
Role	Medium-lift military helicopter
Manufacturer	AgustaWestland
First flight	13. November 2009
Developed from	AgustaWestland AW139
Variants	AgustaWestland AW189

The AgustaWestland AW149 is a medium-lift military helicopter being developed by AgustaWestland. On 20 June 2011 AgustaWestland announced the AW189, a civilian development of the AW149, for service in 2013.

Design and development

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.

The first prototype made its first flight 13 November 2009 from AgustaWestland's Vergiate manufacturing facility in northern Italy. The second prototype, the first with production model engines, made its first flight from Vergiate on 26 February 2011.

A version named TUHP149, and the Turkish T-70 version of the S-70i Black Hawk, were candidates for the Turkish Utility Helicopter Programme (TUHP). The programme covered an initial batch of 109 helicopters worth $4 billion, with a prospect for further orders in subsequent batches that may eventually top 300. On 21 April 2011 the Turkish defence minister announced that the Sikorsky T-70 Black Hawk had been declared the winner.

AgustaWestland hopes 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. The AW149 is being offered for Poland's tri-service requirement for 70 helicopters against the Black Hawk and Eurocopter EC725. AgustaWestland believes it can fill the missions of anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, and troop transport, and can be manufactured in-country through its Polish subsidiary PZL-Swidnik.

Specifications (AW149)

Data from

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Capacity: 18 max or; 12 combat laden troops or; 2,720kg external sling load
• Length: 17.57 m (57 ft 8 in)
• Main rotor diameter: 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in)
• Width: 3.06 m (10 ft 0 in)
• Height: 5.14 m (16 ft 10 in)
• Gross weight: 8,600 kg (18,959 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × General Electric CT7-2E1 turboshaft engine, 1,477 kW (1,980 hp) each

Performance

• Cruising speed: 278 km/h (173 mph)

Gallery

AgustaWestland AW149 mockup at Paris Air Show 2009.

AgustaWestland AW149 mockup at Paris Air Show 2009.

AgustaWestland AW149 mockup at Paris Air Show 2009.

See also

• AgustaWestland AW139
• AgustaWestland AW189
• Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
• NHIndustries NH90
• List of helicopters

External links

• AgustaWestland AW149 page
• "New AW149 Helicopter Details Revealed at Farnborough"
• Turkish Utility Helicopter Programme TUHP 149 - More Details Released
• PICTURE: AgustaWestland reveals AW149 for Turkey
• Turkey to decide in June between AW149, 'T-70' Black Hawk
• AgustaWestland Unveils AW149 for Turkey
• AW149 Specs on flugzeuginfo.net