AgustaWestland AW109



The AgustaWestland AW109 is a light-weight, twin-engine, eight-seat multi-purpose helicopter built by the Anglo-Italian manufacturer AgustaWestland. First flown as the Agusta A109 in 1971, the craft has been used in light transport, medevac, search-and-rescue, and military roles.

Design and development
In the late 1960s, Agusta designed the A109 as a single-engine commercial helicopter. It was soon realised that a twin-engine design was needed and it was re-designed in 1969 with two Allison 250-C14 turboshaft engines. A projected military version (the A109B) was not developed and the company concentrated on the eight-seat A109C version. The first of three prototypes made its maiden flight on 4 August 1971. A protracted development then followed and the first production aircraft was not completed until April 1975. Delivery of production machines started in early 1976. The aircraft soon became a success and began to be used for roles other than as a light transport including as an air ambulance and search-and-rescue. In 1975, Agusta returned again to the possibility of a military version and trials were carried out between 1976 and 1977 with five A109As fitted with Hughes Aircraft TOW missiles. Two military versions were then developed, one for light attack or close support and another for naval operations.

Fuselages of A109 are made by PZL-Świdnik. In June 2006 the 500th fuselage was delivered by this manufacturer, marking 10 years of co-operation between the two companies.

The sale of the Agusta A109 to the Belgian armed forces in 1988 gave rise to a bribery scandal when it was alleged the company had given the Belgian Socialist Party over 50 million Belgian francs to secure the sale. This scandal led to the resignation and conviction of NATO Secretary General Willy Claes.

The Agusta A109 was renamed the AW109 following the July 2000 merger of Finmeccanica S.p.A. and GKN plc's respective helicopter subsidiaries Agusta and Westland Helicopters to form AgustaWestland.

In August 2008, Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik broke the round-the-world speed record using a factory-standard AgustaWestland Grand, with a time of 11 days, 7 hours and 2 minutes. The A109S Grand is also the fastest helicopter from New York to Los Angeles.

In July 2013, the South African Air Force reported that 18 AW109s had effectively been grounded due to lack of money to keep them flying. They were occasionally activated but did not fly. The SAAF cited a slash in helicopter funds as the reason, with only 71 flight hours allocated to an operational fleet of about 20 AW109s. The helicopters may be reduced to flying VIPs rather than being operationally capable. South Africa is considering selling a number of AW109s, and may cease helicopter operations.

Variants

 * A109A: The first production model, powered by two Allison Model 250-C20 turboshaft engines. It made its first flight on 4 August 1971. Initially, the A109 was marketed under the name of "Hirundo" (Latin for the swallow), but this was dropped within a few years.
 * A109A EOA: Military version for the Italian Army.
 * A109A Mk.II: Upgraded civilian version of the A109A.
 * A109A Mk.II MAX: Aeromedical evacuation version based on A109A Mk.II with extra wide cabin and access doors hinged top and bottom, rather than to one side
 * A109B: Unbuilt military version.
 * A109C: Eight-seat civil version, powered by two Allison Model 250-C20R-1 turboshaft engines.
 * A109C MAX: Aeromedical evacuation version based on A109C with extra-wide cabin and access doors hinged top and bottom, rather than to one side
 * A109D: One prototype only
 * A109E Power: Upgraded civilian version, initially powered by two Turbomeca Arrius 2K1 engines. Later the manufacturer introduced an option for two Pratt & Whitney PW206C engines to be used – both versions remain known as the A109E Power
 * A109E Power Elite: stretched cabin version of A109E Power. This variant, which is operated by the RAF, has a glass cockpit with two complete sets of pilot instruments and navigation systems, including a three-axis autopilot, an auto-coupled Instrument Landing System and GPS. There is also a Moving Map Display, weather radar and a Traffic Alerting System.
 * A109LUH: Military LUH "Light Utility Helicopter" variant based on the A109E Power. Operators include South African Air Force, Nigerian Air Force as well as Sweden, New Zealand and Malaysia
 * MH-68A: Eight A109E Power aircraft were used by the United States Coast Guard Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron Jacksonville (HITRON Jacksonville) as short-range armed interdiction helicopters from 2000 until 2008, when they were replaced with MH-65C Dolphins. Agusta designated these armed interdiction aircraft as "Mako" until the U. S. Coast Guard officially named it the MH-68A Stingray in 2003. The HITRON configuration included a rescue hoist, emergency floats, FLIR, Spectrolab NightSun search light, a 7.62mm M240D machine gun and a Barrett M107 semi-automatic .50 caliber sniper rifle with laser sight.
 * A109K: Military version.
 * A109K2: High-altitude and high-temperature operations with fixed wheels rather than the retractable wheels of most A109 variants. Typically used by police, search and rescue, and air ambulance operators.
 * A109M: Military version.
 * A109KM: Military version for high altitude and high temperature operations.
 * A109KN: Naval version.
 * A109CM: Standard military version.
 * A109GdiF: Version for Guardia di Finanza, the Italian Finance Guard
 * A109BA : Version created for the Belgian Army.
 * AW109S Grand: Lengthened cabin-upgraded civilian version with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207 engines and lengthened main rotor blades with different tip design to the Power version.
 * AW109SP :
 * AW109 Grand New: single IFR, TAWS and EVS, especially for EMS.
 * Changhe CA109: Chinese version of A109, manufactured by Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation in Jingdezhen under license.

Civilian and Government Operators


The AW109 is flown by a range of operators including private companies, military services, emergency services and air charter companies.

Military operators

 * Gendarmerie Nationale
 * Albanian Air Force
 * Argentine Army
 * Bangladesh Navy
 * Belgian Air Component
 * Bulgarian Border Police
 * Carabineros de Chile
 * Carabinieri
 * Guardia di Finanza
 * Italian Army
 * Vigili del Fuoco
 * Italian State Police
 * State Border Guard
 * Malaysian Army
 * Royal New Zealand Air Force
 * Nigerian Air Force
 * Nigerian Navy
 * Peruvian Army
 * $\phi$
 * Philippine Navy - (5 on order)
 * Slovenian Ministry of Defence
 * Slovenian Police
 * South African Air Force
 * Swedish Armed Forces
 * Royal Air Force
 * Royal New Zealand Air Force
 * Nigerian Air Force
 * Nigerian Navy
 * Peruvian Army
 * $\phi$
 * Philippine Navy - (5 on order)
 * Slovenian Ministry of Defence
 * Slovenian Police
 * South African Air Force
 * Swedish Armed Forces
 * Royal Air Force
 * South African Air Force
 * Swedish Armed Forces
 * Royal Air Force
 * Swedish Armed Forces
 * Royal Air Force
 * Royal Air Force

Former Military operators

 * Royal Australian Navy
 * Paraguayan Air Force
 * Slovenian Air Force
 * Army Air Corps
 * Slovenian Air Force
 * Army Air Corps
 * Army Air Corps
 * Army Air Corps
 * United States Coast Guard
 * Venezuelan Army
 * Venezuelan Army
 * Venezuelan Army

Accidents

 * At around 1900 GMT on 30 March 2013, a South African Air Force A109 crashed while on anti-poaching patrol in the Kruger National Park in South Africa. All five SANDF members aboard were killed.
 * At around 1900 GMT on 30 March 2013, a South African Air Force A109 crashed while on anti-poaching patrol in the Kruger National Park in South Africa. All five SANDF members aboard were killed.
 * At around 1900 GMT on 30 March 2013, a South African Air Force A109 crashed while on anti-poaching patrol in the Kruger National Park in South Africa. All five SANDF members aboard were killed.