AW-609: there are still doubts about who will buy it and at what price

(To Andrea Cucco)
15/09/15

Finmeccanica published today the following press release:

"Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland's AW609 convertiplane set the speed record on a one-thousand-kilometer point-to-point route. The aircraft, which has the unique characteristic of combining the speed of a turboprop aircraft with the vertical take-off and landing capabilities of a helicopter, has in fact covered the distance of 1.161 kilometers that separates the company site of Yeovil, in the south-east of England, from the Cascina Costa plant in Samarate, near Milan, in just 2 hours and 18 minutes. The AW609 convertiplane has technological features that foreshadow a real revolution for commercial transport: the primacy obtained on the route between the south of the United Kingdom and the north of Italy is a clear demonstration of the extraordinary advantages that air transport will benefit from " point-to-point ”based on the tiltrotor. The AW609 will make it possible to connect two major cities - for example Milan and London - in about two hours, taking off and landing vertically like a helicopter, to and from any urban area, with a cruising speed typical of a turboprop aircraft and in any conditions. meteorological. By combining the capabilities of a fixed-wing aircraft with those of a rotary-wing aircraft, the AW609 tiltrotor ultimately ensures a 30% to 50% reduction in travel times compared to the combined use of machine, helicopter and business jet, particularly for distances over 1.100 kilometers."

The enthusiastic tones do not dispel the doubts expressed by a letter sent a few months ago by a reader of Online Defense - a pilot, then a "technician" - who had highlighted design and above all commercial problems. In re-proposing the reading of the analysis of the AW-609, we sincerely hope that our fears are groundless: that the aircraft can be a real commercial success, or purchased with satisfaction abroad, and does not end up burdening the budgets of the military Corps and civilians of the Italian State or of controlled or associated companies.

The price assumed by the CEO of Bell Helicopters in 2001 (10 million dollars) would already place it in a scarcely competitive position in the market today. Won't the 14 years of waiting since that first declaration aggravate the final amount required for this "gem"?

Click here for the analysis: AW-609: WHEN FINMECCANICA CARESS YOU ...