The name know as “Fenice” was revealed by General Andrea Di Stasio, the first flight for the Italian Leonardo AW-249 exploration and escort helicopter took place on 19 August 2022 in Vergiate.
The helicopter, successor of the A129 Mangusta, could be ordered in 48 specimens by the Italian Army Aviation to replace from 2025 the thirty Mangusta still in service, was financed by a contract of 487 million euros assigned by the Italian Ministry of Defense for the development and construction of the prototype and 3 other machines.
Larger than the Mangusta, weighing about 8 tons and a payload of 1800 that includes rockets, Spike anti-tank missiles, AIM-9 Sidewinder or AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missiles and an OTO Melara TM-197B 20 mm cannon), the AW-249 uses two GE CT-78E6 turboshaft engines with a rated power of about 2583 shp each. The new helicopter will have a much higher power-to-weight ratio than the A129, which uses 2 890 horsepower Rolls-Royce Gem 2-1004D turboshaft engines.
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