Leonardo announced today the signing of a contract with the Carabinieri for the supply of 20 AW119Kx single-engine helicopters for its Air Service.
The helicopters will be assembled at the Vergiate plant with deliveries expected between 2023 and 2026. The contract also includes a complete package of turnkey logistical technical support and training services for pilots and maintenance technicians.
The supply will allow the Carabinieri to respond to the needs of modernization of the fleet in order to guarantee greater and better safety of citizens, through a more incisive control of the territory, favoring research, exploration, reconnaissance and land patrol, identifying and identifying sensitive targets, monitoring behavior, acquiring sources of evidence and guiding the intervention of units on the ground.
To these tasks are added the support to environmental protection and, at the request of the Department of Civil Protection, forest firefighting, as well as rescue missions.
The AW119Kx are equipped with digital technologies that allow an increase in operational effectiveness and lower operating costs and can be used in the existing infrastructures on the national territory including 18 bases.
The equipment provided for the helicopters will allow full interoperability with other assets of the Carabinieri and coordination capabilities with those of other Armed Forces and State Corps, both in national and international contexts.
Gian Piero Cutillo, MD Leonardo Helicopters, said: “The introduction of the AW119Kx in the Carabinieri Air Service fleet is an ideal complement to the capabilities that the operator is equipping itself with the AW139 and AW169, in response to the wide range of needs expressed by its institutional responsibilities and in an evolving and increasingly complex operational scenario. We are proud to continue to provide our contribution to the Arma with assets capable of fully responding to the new challenges of security and support to the national population”.
The peculiar characteristics of the AW119Kx and the related certification standards and military qualifications will allow the operator to carry out missions even in urban contexts effectively and safely thanks to the characteristics of systemic redundancy, power margin, great external visibility, sophisticated digital avionics for navigation and mission.
The latter is based on the Garmin G1000H cockpit equipped with large color displays, synthetic vision of the external environment, ground proximity system, flight information on the map in real time (moving map) subservient to GPS. This helicopter model features a large cabin and a large luggage compartment, as well as a high distance of the main rotor from the ground to ensure greater safety on the ground for people during the mission.
Among the equipment provided for the AW119Kx of the Carabinieri are high definition (HD) electrical system, barycentric hook, data-link mission-transmission console, hyperspectral system for environmental monitoring and control, radio communications, cable cutters, fire bucket, research beacon.
It is also planned for the installation of floats and rescue boats, and snow kits. 2 Highly versatile, the AW119 features avionics that allow both visual and instrument flight rules.
This allows greater awareness of the operating environment for the crew, mission effectiveness and safety, providing operators with different options to meet their specific requirements. This helicopter model offers performance with high power margins and the wide
Leonardo has announced today the signing of a contract by Italy’s Carabinieri for the supply of 20 AW119Kx single engine helicopters for its Air Service. The aircraft will be assembled at Leonardo’s Vergiate facility (Varese) with deliveries expected in the 2023-2026 period. The contract also includes a comprehensive turnkey logistics support package and training services for pilots and maintenance technicians.
The delivery of the helicopters will allow the Carabinieri to meet its fleet modernisation requirements in order to further strengthen and enhance the security of national communities. This will be made possible carrying out a range of patrol and reconnaissance tasks over land, identifying critical targets, gathering investigation evidence, as well as supporting ground units’ activities. Other duties also comprise environment monitoring and protection, and, if asked by National Disaster Relief Authority, fire-fighting in addition to rescue missions.
The AW119Kxs feature digital technology, which increases operational effectiveness and lowers operating costs. The helicopters will be used at the existing locations of the service, which includes 18 bases across the country. Their equipment will allow full interoperability with other Carabinieri’s assets and full cooperation with those of other armed forces and government agencies, both in-country and internationally.
Gian Piero Cutillo, MD Leonardo Helicopters, said: “The introduction of the AW119Kx in the Carabinieri Air Service’s fleet ideally integrates the capabilities the operator already has chosen thanks to the AW139s and AW169s. The helicopters respond to the wide spectrum of the Air Service’s requirements considering their national duties and an evolving and increasingly complex operational scenario. We’re proud to continue to support the Carabinieri with capabilities that are able to face new security challenges and benefit the national communities”.
The specific characteristics of the AW119Kx and its certification and military standards allow the operator to perform missions over urban areas effectively and safely thanks to the type’s features such as system redundancies, power margin, excellent external visibility, advanced digital navigation and mission avionics. The latter is based on a Garmin G1000H cockpit featuring wide colour screens, synthetic vision, HTAWS, satellite navigation/moving map. The AW119Kx has a spacious cabin and baggage compartment, and high main rotor clearance for greater safety of personnel. Carabinieri’s AW119Kxs will feature, among others, HD EO, cargo hook, mission console with data-link, hyperspectral system for environment monitoring, radio, wire cutter, search light and a Bambi Bucket. Provisions for a floating system and life raft and a snow kit are also included.
The highly versatile AW119Kx features both VFR and IFR avionics based on customer choice. This allows greater situational awareness, mission effectiveness and safety. The AW119Kx has unmatched performance with high power margin and the most spacious cabin in its category, able to host up to six passengers depending on configuration. More than 490 AW119s have been sold to date.
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