Leonardo welcomes the award of the contract worth 29 million dollars by the US Department of Defense for the supply of AW119Kx helicopters as part of the FMS (Foreign Military Sales) programs for Israel. The United States Army will be responsible for the contractual aspects and the helicopters will be produced at the Leonardo plant in Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense is already a customer of AW119Kx. In 2019, a contract was signed for a full package of defense-related training capabilities including seven AW119Kx single-engine helicopters to be manufactured in the United States. This training program also includes flight simulators and other dedicated equipment, new infrastructure and technical support for 20 years.
The AW119 is the best single-engine multirole helicopter available today in its class and its success has grown significantly in recent years on the world defense market, both for training tasks and other operational roles. In 2020 the US Department of Defense awarded a contract of up to 130 AW119 to replace the now obsolete TH-57 Sea Ranger as a new training helicopter for the US Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, with 104 units already ordered to date. In addition, the Portuguese Air Force currently employs a fleet of five AW119s for training, medical evacuation, troop transport, short-range search and rescue, and firefighting.
The number of AW119 operators continues to increase. This model has been chosen for defense, national security and public order tasks in several countries including, for example, the USA, Portugal, Finland. Latvia, Brazil, Ecuador, South Korea.
Equipped with great versatility, the AW119 features avionics that allow both to operate according to the rules of visual flight, and instrumental. This allows for greater awareness of the operational context for the crew, mission effectiveness and safety, providing operators with several options to meet their specific requirements. This helicopter model offers unmatched performance with high power margins and the largest cabin in its class, capable of accommodating up to six passengers depending on the configuration. Over 470 AW119s have been sold to date.
