Ahead of its planned first flight, Khalem Chapman outlines what is known so far about Leonardo Helicopters’ an all-new, technologically advanced AW249 attack helicopter.
Leonardo Helicopters has been quietly working on the AW249 since it was awarded a €487m multi-year development contract by the Italian Ministry of Defence (IMOD) under the nation’s New Exploration Escort Helicopter (NEES) programme in January 2017.
This deal covers the study, development, industrialisation, production and testing of an all-new, next-generation attack helicopter, which has been designed to replace the ageing AgustaWestland AW129C/D (AH-129C/D) Mangusta fleet of the Comando Aviazione dell'Esercito (AVES; Italian Army Aviation Command). As part of this contract, the firm will produce one AW249 prototype, as well as three pre-serial production aircraft.
The AVES launched Mangusta operations with the AW129A (AH-129A) in 1990, with upgraded examples entering service from March 2004. As per current plans, this matured attack helicopter fleet will be phased out of operational service from 2025, after what will have been 35 years of employment in support of the Italian armed forces. In a bid to smoothly replace the outgoing platform, the army has outli…
