In full line with the joint agreements signed last December 2 by the Minister of Defense, the Honorable Lorenzo Guerini and his Austrian counterpart Klaudia Tanner, the bilateral meeting between the general of the Corps of armed Luciano Portolano, general secretariat of defense and national director of armaments and his Austrian counterpart, Major General Haral Vodosek, for the stipulation of the relative technical contractual agreement relating to the Government-to-Government (G2G) initiative on Light Utility Helicopter AW169.
The close bilateral cooperation between Italy and Austria has made it possible to reaffirm the value of the instrument of the G2G agreements aimed at involving, in addition to procurement opportunities with the national industry, also the training, logistics and operations sectors.
The cooperation activity in the helicopter sector arose from Austria's decision to look to Italy to identify the helicopter with which to replace the now outdated Alouette III. This led to the first technical agreement of January 2020, aimed at establishing a strategic military partnership in the rotary-wing aircraft sector, which today sees its practical implementation in order to supply Austria with 18 AW 169 helicopters in "B" versions ( Basic) and AM (Advanced Multirole), as well as a complete package of logistical support services, which Segredifesa developed with the Austrian counterpart during the development phases of the initiative.
The Austrian interest in the AW169 reflects the wide operational flexibility of the aircraft, capable of responding both to the needs of the Armed Forces, from the transport of troops to combat capabilities, and to complementary ones oriented above all to national support. in the event of public disasters, fire protection, rescue and rescue in a mountain environment. Today's signature will allow the signing of the Acquisition Contract between Segredifesa and Leonardo by mid-January 2022. This process will lead to the delivery of the first helicopter to Austria in early December 2022.
The cooperation activity will also develop with the establishment of an Italian-Austrian international training center which will be located at the 2nd Regiment of the "Sirio" Army Aviation in Lamezia Terme, currently in charge of helicopter training for crews. Italians.
