Italy’s Leonardo on Thursday announced the first successful flight of the first of eight planned upgraded Super Lynx Mk21B helicopters for the Brazilian navy.
The helicopter was flown at the company’s Yeovil facility in southwest England. Leonardo noted in a statement that the upgraded rotorcraft will provide Brazil’s naval aviation with a “significant improvement in its capabilities, with much increased aircraft performance and mission effectiveness.”
The first three upgraded Super Lynxes are planned to be delivered in 2018. The Mk21B has two new generation CTS800-4N engines, currently used on the Super Lynx 300 and AW159 Lynx Wildcat helicopter. Leonardo said these engines provide helicopters with performance improvements in hot environments, increases the payload capacity, and improves mission effectiveness.
The upgraded units also include a new glass cockpit with an advanced avionics suite, which is comprised of a tactical processor, a satellite-based navigation system, civil navigation aids like the Traffic Collision Avoidance System, an Automatic Identification System, and radar warning receiver/electronic surveillance measures integrated with countermeasure dispensers. The helicopters also include a Night Vision Goggle compatible cockpit and a new electric-powered rescue hoist.
Previously, Leonardo awarded General Dynamics [GD] a contract to provide mission system equipment for these upgraded helicopters. The GD system has already been incorporated into the cockpit display system of U.K. and export variants of the AW159 Lynx Wildcat (Defense Daily, July 13, 2016).