Leonardo AW149

Leonardo AW149 History

AgustaWestland developed its AW149 variant as a military medium helicopter to compete with Eurocopter's AS532 Cougar Mil Mi-17 Hip, NH Industries NH90 and the ubiquitous Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk "compete. Helicopter line.

AW189 is its civilian market form - currently in development since June 2014. The AW149 was developed from the previous (and globally popular) AW139 company model and was first shown to the public at the 2006 Farnborough Airshow in the UK, where it won the first flight on 13 November 2009.

To date (2016), the AW149 has not received its first customer. The Turks ended up being interested in the Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk, while the Italians opted for the AW139M product.

The AW149 may still be secured by the Polish military, which is currently looking for a new medium lift multipurpose helicopter platform.

Compared to the earlier AW139, the AW149 gets an upgraded turboshaft engine in the form of 2 GE CT7-2E1s that produce up to 1,980 hp per installation. Engineers increased the aircraft's maximum take-off weight (MTOW) to match the military capabilities required by competing mid-lift models.

Cruising at over 175 mph, slightly slower than the AW139 civilian product, although the AW149 also carried a larger airframe structure, allowing for more internal storage space for infantry, cargo and fuel, and expanding the helicopter's tactics ability. The aircraft is also loaded with integrated countermeasures, armor, reinforced landing gear and special mission equipment for the modern battlefield.

Internally, the AW149 model consists of two pilots paired as standard. It has cabin space for up to 18 passengers or the equivalent of 12 armed, ready troops. The helicopter also has external cargo capacity and can carry slings up to 6,000 lbs. Externally, the aircraft has a traditional layout with a front row, two seats, side-by-side cockpit and an extended nose cone assembly behind a large windshield.

Access is via automotive-style hinged doors, while sliding doors are set to the sides of the cabin. Large round rectangular windows line the sides of the hull. The engine is mounted above the passenger cabin in the usual way and is drawn in through the side air intakes. The main rotor mast is located low on the helicopter and powers the four-blade rotor assembly.

This is connected to a four-blade tail rotor located on the starboard side. Its drive shaft is located in the raised rear axle. The helicopter is mounted on a wheeled undercarriage in a tricycle configuration, with a single wheel on the main leg and a double wheel lug on the front leg.

Dimensionally, the plane measures 57 feet 8 inches long, 10 feet wide and 16 feet 10 inches high. Its rotors reach nearly 48 feet in diameter. Gross weight is nearly 18,960 pounds.

Depending on the specific mission role, the AW149 can be armed or unarmed. It is modeled after a multi-shot rocket pod, placed along an optional wing stub and side window fire general purpose machine gun (GPMG). Mission optics will be installed in the chin fairing and nose assembly.

Specification

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