Leonardo helicopters for sale

Leonardo Helicopters is the helicopter division of Leonardo S.pA., a €14.1-billion (2021) Italian multinational aerospace and defense company that was previously known as Finmeccanica.

For most of its history, Leonardo (known as Agusta until 2000, then AgustaWestland until 2016) made helicopters under licence from Bell (Agusta-Bell 47, 204, 205, 206, 212 and 412), Sikorsky (Agusta-Sikorsky S-61 and S-61R), Boeing (CH-47C and CH-47F Chinook) and McDonnell Douglas (Breda Nardi made the NH 500D/500E before merging with Agusta in 1989).

In the 1980s, Agusta and British manufacturer Westland Helicopters agreed to develop a successor to the Sea King anti-submarine helicopter. They established a joint venture called EH Industries Limited (EHI) to design and build the three-engine EH101, which first flew in October 1987. This partnership became the foundation for the later AgustaWestland merger in 2000.

Then, in early 2010, Leonardo acquired PZL-Świdnik S.A. (the largest helicopter manufacturer in Poland), and in early 2020, it acquired the Kopter Group AG of Switzerland and its SH09 helicopter program (renamed AW09).

Today, Leonardo’s product line includes the single-engine eight-seat AW119 Koala, and the twin-engine AW109E Power, AW109S Grand, AW109 Trekker, AW139, AW169, and AW189. Military products include the A129 Mangusta attack helicopter, the AW101 anti-submarine and search-and-rescue helicopter, and the AW159 Wildcat (and earlier Lynx) maritime rotorcraft.

In 2010, Leonardo (AgustaWestland) bought Bell Helicopter’s interest in AW609 tiltrotor, and once certified, this will become the first civil tiltrotor to enter service.

New aircraft in development include the single-engine AW09, the twin-engine AW249 attack helicopter, and the SW-4 Solo (based on the SW-4) Optionally Piloted Helicopter (OPH) or Rotary Unmanned Air System (RUAS).

Agusta’s first successful original helicopter design was the twin-engine A109, which first flew in Italy August 1971 and received its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certificate in 1975. The original versions of the A109 were powered by the Rolls-Royce (Allison) 250-C20 turboshaft series.

The high-altitude and high-temperature A109K2, with skid landing gear and powered by a pair of Turbomeca Arriel 1K1 turboshafts, was introduced in the early 1990s by launch customer Rega, the Swiss air ambulance and rescue service.

In the early 1990s, the Italian helicopter maker embarked on an ambitious plan to revitalize the company by renewing and expanding its helicopter product line, as its post-Cold War military sales declined.

The company made a bold move into the single-engine helicopter market when it combined the A109 airframe with the extremely reliable Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboshaft to create the AW119 Koala.

In the face of new competitive threats in the light-twin market, Agusta launched the twin-engine A109E Power in 1995, featuring new P&WC PW206C engines, which increased its popularity in the VIP, medical, law enforcement, rescue and military roles. This was complemented in the early 2000s by the AW109 Grand, which has a slightly larger cabin and enhanced rotor system.

The development of the twin-engine AW139 was a transformational event for Leonardo, with the helicopter designed (jointly with Bell) to replace the Bell UH-1/212/412 families and fill a capability gap between four- and eight-tonne helicopters. The 1,000th AW139 was delivered in September 2019.

The AW139 became the foundation of Leonardo’s family of new generation twin-engine helicopters, spanning the 4.5-to-8-tonne class that now includes the 10-passenger AW169 and the 16-19 passenger super-medium AW189. Both types share a high degree of systems commonality with the AW139.

Most of Leonardo’s helicopters are produced at factories in Vergiate, Italy (AW109 series, AW139, AW169, AW189), and Yeovil, U.K., (Super Lynx 300, AW159 Wildcat and AW101 Merlin).

Leonardo Helicopters’ U.S. factory at Northeast Philadelphia Airport is home to the final assembly lines for the AW119 Koala and AW609 tiltrotor, a second line for the AW139, as well as the production site for TH-119 training helicopter for the U.S. Navy and the MH-139, which is supplied with Boeing to the U.S. Air Force.