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Royal Navy's Next Helicopter Completes Trials on HMS Iron Duke 08:36 GMT, February 20, 2012 The Royal Navy's next generation helicopter, Wildcat, has completed 20 days of demanding trials aboard HMS Iron Duke, laying the groundwork for future operations. Wildcat landed nearly 400 times on the frigate's flight deck by day and night in various weather conditions as the ship sailed off the coasts of southern England and northern Scotland. The Portsmouth-based frigate sought the most challenging weather conditions around the UK as she took the Wildcat - successor to the long-serving Lynx - to sea to help write the...

Gunship offer hard to refuse for Seoul ÜMİT ENGİNSOY ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News Friday, November 4, 2011 Turkey’s TAI and Italy’s AgustaWestland have a good chance of winning a bid to jointly produce 30 helicopters for South Korea, an official tells the Daily News A team of Turkish and Italian companies is seeking to win a South Korean contract for 30 attack helicopters worth $1 billion with the group’s T-129 gunship, a senior Turkish procurement official said Nov. 2. “South Korea’s competition is a major one for at least 30 gunships and the T-129 has been shortlisted among a...

DSEi 2011: Lockheed Martin promoting podded AEW solution September 16, 2011 Lockheed Martin has revealed a possible solution to an expected Royal Navy requirement for helicopter-based airborne early warning system for its future aircraft carriers. Currently the Fleet Air Arm operates a fleet of Sea King ASaC7 helicopters equipped with the Thales Searchwater radar system which provides airborne early warning and also an element of GMTI capability which has proved extremely useful for the coalition forces in Afghanistan. The aircraft have also recently been heavily tasked on Operation Ellamy in support of NATO operations in Libya. Because the Sea King...

Turkey's T-129 attack helicopter prototype makes successful first flight Posted on 17 August 2011 in Defence Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has successfully flown the first prototype of its T129 attack helicopter The first flight, conducted by TAI’s test pilots, of T129 “P6” prototype helicopter has timely and successfully been completed at TAI’s facilities in Akıncı (Ankara) the company said today The ATAK Program was initiated with the aim to meet the Attack/Tactical Reconnaissance Helicopter requirements of the Turkish Land Forces Command (TLF) by the integration of high-tech avionic equipment, hardware and software which will be developed in Turkey. The first...

IDEF 2011: T129 project hits its targets May 11, 2011 Project officials are confident that the crash of an A129 Mangusta attack helicopter in March 2010 has caused no delay to the Turkish T129 Attack and Tactical Reconnaissance Helicopter (ATAK) programme. Speaking to Shephard at the IDEF exhibition in Istanbul, representatives of the companies overseeing the various elements of the project were adamant that development was progressing as per the originally agreed schedule. The Turkish Land Forces Command will receive 51 T129 helicopters from 2013, with the aircraft jointly produced in Turkey by Turkish Aerospace Industries and AgustaWestland, with Aselsan...

PZL-Świdnik Delivers Four W-3PL Głuszec Helicopters to the Polish Land Forces (Source: AgustaWestland; issued Feb. 11, 2011) AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that PZL- Świdnik has delivered all of four upgraded W-3PL Głuszec helicopters, a multirole combat version of the W-3 Sokół, to the Polish Land Forces. PZL- Świdnik and the Polish Ministry of Defence signed a research and development phase contract in 2003 for a prototype W-3PL (Głuszec) helicopter, a modernised version of the Army’s existing helicopter. A second contract was signed in 2006 to upgrade four in service helicopters to W-3PL standard. PZL- Świdnik and...

Turkey signs for more T129 attack helicopters By Craig Hoyle Turkey has increased its order for the T129 attack helicopter to 60 aircraft, with prime contractor Turkish Aerospace Industries to deliver nine newly ordered examples by mid-2012. Worth €150 million ($208 million), the contract extension - signed with AW129 producer AgustaWestland - will equip the Turkish army with a batch of TAI-assembled aircraft one year sooner than previously planned. © AgustaWestland AgustaWestland chief executive Giuseppe Orsi says the new deal "confirms how the partnership between AgustaWestland and its partners is able to effectively respond to customer's urgent requirements". Ankara had...

Boeing will compete for a new fleet of presidential helicopters by getting the rights from AgustaWestland to build its AW 101 medium-lift helicopter in the United States. The AW 101 is the same helicopter that served as the basis for a previous presidential helicopter contract. The Pentagon and White House canceled that contract with much fanfare after its price tag doubled due to a series of required design changes. AgustaWestland was partnered with Lockheed Martin, one of Boeing's top competitors, for that contract. Boeing announced Monday that it will secure a license from AgustaWestland — an Italian-British venture and part...

First VH-71 presidential helicopter flies By Graham Warwick AgustaWestland has flown the first test aircraft built specifically for the Lockheed Martin VH-71 US presidential helicopter programme. The aircraft made a 40min flight on 3 July from the company's facility in Yeovil, UK. Under Increment 1 of the programme, three additional test aircraft will fly by early 2008 and five pilot-production VH-71s will be delivered by October 2009 to meet the urgent requirement for a new presidential helicopter. An improved version of the helicopter with increased performance will be developed for Increment 2. This will have uprated engines, a new transmission,...

Turkey's helicopter gunship saga far from over Monday, April 2, 2007 Strangely, Italian-British AgustaWestland's victory in Turkish bid may lead to purchase of US choppers ÜMİT ENGİNSOY ANKARA/WASHINGTON- Turkish Daily News National Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül says Friday's selection of the Italian-British AgustaWestland as winner of Turkey's multibillion-dollar attack helicopter tender comes as an historic decision, putting an end to a 12-year uncertainty over the Army's key modernization program. But leading defense analysts and industry sources say that it is too early to reach this judgment, because U.S. manufacturers may eventually prove to be theunexpected but actual beneficiaries of the...