Leonardo-Finmeccanica announced today that the first AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin Mk4 helicopter successfully carried out its inaugural 24 October flight, at the Yeovil plant in the south-east of England. Leonardo is upgrading the Royal Navy's 25 AW101 Merlin Mk3 / 3A, bringing them to the new Merlin Mk4 / 4A standard under the program called Merlin Life Sustainment Program (MLSP). The related contract, worth 330 million pounds, was awarded by the UK Ministry of Defense in January 2014. Deliveries of the machines will be initiated by the Yeovil Leonardo plant in the 2017 and will continue until the 2020.
The AW101 Merlin Mk4 / 4A helicopters, optimized for naval operations, are equipped with the tail and main rotor blades automatically foldable and the same cockpit as the Merlin Mk2 of the Marina UK with 10 "x 8" screens, two touch screen units for controlling the helicopter and mission equipment systems and systems for access to tactical information. The Merlin Mk101 AW4 will provide better operational capabilities for the Helicopter Force Command of the UK Navy also benefiting from maintenance services common to those already insured under the existing IMOS (Integrated Merlin Operational Support) contract, effective since 2006 and for which Leonardo plays the role of prime contractor.
Kieran O'Brien, head of the Merlin program for the defense procurement agency of the UK Government, said: "This is a great day for us and an important milestone for the modernization of the Merlins. The conversion from the previous version called Mk3 / 3a to the new standard Mk4 / 4a, given the strict schedule of the program, proved to be a real success and this first flight is an extraordinary news for the Royal Navy. The activity necessary to reach the inaugural flight of the new variant of an aircraft is never trivial and this result was only possible thanks to the teamwork carried out by us together with Leonardo. We still have a lot to do but, once this program is completed, our Commando Helicopter Force (CHF) will be equipped with a truly capable helicopter for the related tasks and able to operate in a maritime environment".
