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AgustaWestland AW149

Type (Muster)
Medium twin-turbine battlefield helicopter (Mittelschwerer militärischer Mehrzweckhubschrauber)

Country (Land)
Italy (Italien)

Manufacturer (Hersteller)
AgustaWestland
Via Giovanni Agusta 520
21017 Cascina Costa di Samarate
Italy

Phone: 0039-331/229-111
Fax: 0039-331/222-595
Internet: www.agustawestland.com

General (Allgemeine Angaben)
Crew (Besatzung): 1 or 2
Passengers (Passagiere): up to 15 soldiers in crashworthy seats or 12 seats and equipment. Alternatively, there is room for 2 to 6 stretcher with 4 attendants.

Weapons (Bewaffnung)
There are provisions for window mounted machine guns (7.62 mm). On lateral hardpoints, the AW149 can carry weapons like

rocket launcher 7/12/19 tubes of 70/81 mm calibre
machine gun-pod, 12.7 or 20 mm
machine gun-pod 12.7 mm with 3 tubes 70 mm rockets
air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles could also be carried

Power plant (Antrieb): 2 x turboshafts
Power (Leistung): 2 x 2000 shp class

Dimensions (Abmessungen)
Length overall, rotor turning (Länge über drehenden Rotor): 16,91 m
Height (Höhe): 5.05 m
Main rotor diameter (Hauptrotordurchmesser): 14,00 m

Max. cabin length (Kabinenlänge): 3,0 m
Max. cabin width (Kabinenbreite): 2,26 m
Max. cabin height (Kabinenhöhe): 1,45 m
Cabin volume (Kabinenvolumen): 10 cu m
Cargo bay volume (Gepäckraumvolumen): 4 cu m

Weights (Massen)
Max. load on cargo hook (max. Außenlast): 2720 kg
Max. gross weight (Max. Startmasse): 7000 kg class

Performance (Flugleistungen)
Max. cruise speed (max. Reisegeschwindigkeit): 160 kts
Hover in ground effect: over 2450 m (8000 ft)
Hover out of ground effect (Schwebeflughöhe ohne Bodeneffekt): 6000 ft at 95 F at max. all-up weight
Range (Reichweite): over 500 NM with 2 crew and 12 fully equipped troops
Endurance (Flugdauer): over 3,5 h

Costs (Kosten)
No details available.
Development funding will come in part from the Italian government and maybe from the UK as well, through the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry).

Customers (Kunden)
None yet

Competitors (Konkurrenz)
The AW149 fits between the A139 and the NH90. It rivals the Korean KHP program.

Remarks (Bemerkungen)
The AW149 is aimed at battlefield support, command and control, medical evacuation and CSAR missions. It is capable of being operated in IFR/all weather conditions.
The new military helicopter is based on the AW139, but with more powerful drive train and bigger fuselage. Major design features of the AW149 are:

rugged construction and crashworthy design with damage tolerance and system redundancy
crashworthy, self-sealing fuel tanks
fully integrated, open-system avionics architecture based onMIL-STD-1553B data bus, with capability to further integrate customer specific and future mission systems
full glass cockpit, based on four active matrix liquid crystal displays (15 x 20 cm) suitable for dual use (military and civil). Night-vision compatible lighting
Fully digital, 4-axis AFCS
Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS)
modular ballistic tolerance and Defensive Aids Suite (DAS) systems

Both civil and military certificatins are planned to fill government, homeland security and police needs as well.

History (Geschichte)
After some months of speculation, details of the new AW149 mulit-role battlefield helicopter were announced on 19 July 2006 at the Farnborough International Airshow. The company said that several thousand utility helicopters in the intermediate/medium category need replacing over the next few years.
A full-scale mock-up will be unveiled at the Paris Air Show in 2007. First flight is targeted for 2009, with initial operational capabilty possible in 2011, it was said at the presentation in Farnborough.

Civil | Military | Helicopters | History | Spaceflight

Last updated 4 August 2006

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