The Leonardo AW-169M Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) has been selected as the joint armed force rotary-wing platform by the Italian MoD. The same helicopter was selected by the Austrian MoD to replace its fleet of Alouette III. © Austrian MoD
The UK MoD has approved the plan for a new medium lift helicopter to be in service by the mid-2020s, enabling a consolidation of the Army’s disparate fleet of medium lift helicopters from four platform types to one, including the Puma fleet. © UK MoD Crowncopyright
Helicopters and Safran Helicopter Engines, the new military platform developed from the Airbus H-160 helicopter is scheduled to be delivered from 2026, with a programme launch planned for 2021. With a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 6,050 kg and powered by two new generation, reduced fuel consumption, Safran Helicopter Engines Arrano 1A 1,100-to-1,300 shp-each class engine, the H-160M will come in two different configurations for land and navalbased operations. Characterized by the noisereducing and performance-enhancing Blue Edge main rotor, a new canted fenestron and a horizontal biplane stabilizer, the new H-160M will be equipped with the Thales FlytX avionics suite and a tailored mission package. This includes Thales new Air Master C AESA compact radar and Safran Euroflir 410 EO/IR system, a selfprotection suite, as well as the capability to carry side-mounted gun, rockets pods, and launchers
for MBDA ANL/SEA VENOM anti-ship missiles. The H-160M is expected to give a strong push on the international market, alongside the Airbus’ HForce arming and firing suite for the company’s H145M twin-engine light helicopter already adopted by Serbia and Hungary. A joint armed forces requirement for 117 new helicopters to replace more than five different types of legacy platforms with the Leonardo AW169M Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) has been approved mid-last year by the Italian MoD. The first receiver of the new platform is the Italian Army, which in late 2020 accepted the first two AW-169M LUHs in a basic training configuration, while Leonardo, the Italian MoD and the service are working on the operational advanced multirole configuration called Multiruolo Avanzato (MA). A contract for a second batch of 15 helicopters was awarded in June 2020 while EDR | July/August 2021
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