Leonardo Helicopters
AW249 Fenice "Phoenix"
First flight 12 August 2022
Status Under development
AgustaWestland
AgustaWestland AW249
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History AgustaWestland (now Leonardo)
AgustaWestland AW249 Attack
The Leonardo Helicopters AW249 Fenice (English: Phoenix) is an attack helicopter project under development by the Italian firm Leonardo. Development of the AW249 formally started upon receipt of a €487 million contract from the Italian Army as a replacement for the Agusta A129 Mangusta. It is to be larger, more survivable, and have greater autonomy than the Mangusta, incorporating stealth technologies and mission systems to control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)s. Numerous mature technologies will also be incorporated, such as the OTO Melara TM197B 20 mm chin-mounted cannon, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Toplite targeting system and Spike missile, it is intended for the AW249 to have lower operating costs than the preceding Mangusta.
Development
In January 2017, the Italian Army awarded a €487 million ($515 million) contract to Leonardo for the development of a successor to the Agusta A129 Mangusta attack helicopter. The total cost of the AW-249 was announced to be €2.7 billion in total, it includes the development cost of €487 million.
A total of 59 Mangustas were inducted into the Italian Army, and the type has been in service since 1990; by 2018, only 32 A129s reportedly remained operational.[4] At the time of the contract's award, the Mangusta was to be withdrawn from 2025, at which point the type is scheduled to have begun to be replaced by 48 AW249s, which are designated by the Italian military as the AH-249. Prior to the 2017 contract, the Italian Army and Leonardo had studied options for the future of the Mangusta, the service had rejected one proposal to replace the type with an attack-orientated variant of the AgustaWestland AW149 helicopter; instead, it opted for a series of low-risk upgrades and enhancements to be applied to the existing A129s to boost its endurance, situational awareness, and information-handling capabilities as medium-term measure
Operators
Future operators
Italy - The Italian Army has ordered 48 AW249 helicopters as the replacement of its A129 helicopters
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Photo Gallery
AgustaWestland (now Leonardo)
AgustaWestland AW249 Fenice
AgustaWestland (now Leonardo)
AgustaWestland AW249 Attack Fenice
General Info
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- Crew: two
- Capacity: >1,800 kg
- Length: 17.63 m (57 ft 10 in)
- Wingspan: 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in)
- Height: 4.26 m (14 ft 0 in)
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Powerplant
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- Max takeoff weight: 8,300 kg
- Powerplant: 2 × General Electric CT7-8E6[ turboshaft, 1,866 kW (2,503 shp) each
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Performance
- Maximum speed: 287 km/h
- Cruise speed: 259 km/h
- Range: 796 km (495 mi, 430 nmi)
- Endurance: 4 hours
- Service ceiling: 6,100 m (20,000 ft)
Links to Youtube & Others
Military certification for the AW149 was announced by Finmeccanica at the 2014 Farnborough airshow
AgustaWestland
AgustaWestland AW249
The landing gear can sustain a touchdown with a sink speed of 9.5 m/s, compared with the 2 m/s for a civilian helicopter.
Youtube Link
Leonardo has proposed the AW149 for the UK's New Medium Helicopter programme, which aims to replace the RAF's Puma helicopters.
Read more in AgustaWestland (now Leonardo)
Leonardo AW249 Fenice
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