Finmeccanica’s AgustaWestland North America Inc. yesterday said it has completed a week of flight demonstrations for the U.S. Army as it moves forward with its Armed Aerial Scout program.
AgustaWestland performed the Armed Aerial Scout demonstrations with the AW139M as a technology demonstrator.
The company plans to propose a military variant of the AW169 for the mission, based on the U.S. Army’s request for information. The AW139 and AW169 possess the same high performance flight characteristics, superior power-to-weight ratios, safety features and share the same common design philosophy and maintenance concepts.
“We welcome the opportunity to have been chosen for the first Armed Aerial Scout flight demonstrations–we were prepared, ready and we’re moving forward,” said R. Scott Rettig, CEO of AgustaWestland North America. “We are confident that the breadth and depth of our product portfolio and military expertise will meet the U.S. Army’s mission needs, as they assess new technologies and further define the requirements for the Armed Aerial Scout mission.”
Sikorsky [UTX], the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS) and Bell Helicopter [TXT] are all primed and ready for an AAS competition. (Defense Daily, April 16, Oct. 21, 2010).
“We are confident that there is a tremendous market for multirole rotorcraft and in our ability to transform the latest commercial helicopter technology into next-generation military platforms,” Rettig said. “In this manner, the Department of Defense can leverage industry’s technology investment, and take advantage of cost benefits and support that our commercial customers receive, with the increased safety and performance of these modern platforms.”
AgustaWestland is on a flight test program to have the AW169 complete both FAA and EASA certification. The technology and capability of the AW139M, demonstrated for the Armed Aerial Scout program, was militarized for the Air Force UH-1N modernization and replacement effort and adjacent national security missions. Most recently, the AW139M was tested and certified by the U.S. Army for safe separation of its modern survivability suite at the Army Materiel Command’s Redstone Technical Test Center in Huntsville, Ala.