17 More Helos To Be Delivered Under The Contract

AgustaWestland announced Tuesday that the Qatar Armed Forces has taken delivery of its first AW139 medium twin helicopter. An official ceremony was held Monday at AgustaWestland's Vergiate plant in Italy, in the presence of Qatar Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Hamad Bin Ali Al Attiyah and Qatar Emiri Air Force Chief of Staff General Mubarak Al-Khayarin. The aircraft will be operated by the Qatar Emiri Air Force supporting various government agencies to perform a range of roles including utility, troop transport, search and rescue, border patrol, special forces operations, law enforcement and homeland security.

A contract for 18 units was signed in August 2008 which also included crew training and an initial spares package. The Qatar Armed Forces becomes the third operator of military-configured AW139 helicopters following the Irish Air Corps and UAE Armed Forces.

Giuseppe Orsi, Chief Executive Officer, AgustaWestland said "It gives us great pleasure to celebrate the handover of the first AW139 to such an important customer ahead of the planned delivery schedule. The military configured AW139 has been developed to meet the Qatar Armed Forces' demanding requirements and I am confident it will exceed their operational expectations in service."

The AW139 has a maximum cruise speed of 165 knots, and a maximum range in excess of 570 nm with auxiliary fuel. The aircraft has outstanding one engine inoperative capabilities even in the hot an high environmental conditions. The cockpit technology minimizes pilot workload allowing the crew to concentrate on mission objectives. For military missions the AW139 features dedicated equipment to meet a range of general and specialist roles.

FMI: www.agustawestland.com