AgustaWestland

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AgustaWestland was an Anglo-Italian helicopter design and manufacturing company,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica (now known as Leonardo).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was formed in July 2000 as an Anglo-Italian<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> multinational company, when Finmeccanica and GKN merged their respective helicopter subsidiaries (Agusta and Westland Helicopters) to form AgustaWestland,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with each holding a 50% share. Finmeccanica acquired GKN's stake in AgustaWestland in 2004.

In 2016, AgustaWestland was merged into Leonardo S.p.A. (formerly Finmeccanica), where it became the company's helicopters division under the Leonardo Helicopters brand.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Leonardo – Helicopters</ref>

History

The collaboration between Agusta and Westland dates back to 1981, when the two companies established the European Helicopter Industries joint venture with the aim of developing a new medium-size utility helicopter, the EH101.

In March 1999, Finmeccanica and GKN announced their intention to merge their respective helicopter subsidiaries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The two parties announced finalised terms for the merger in July 2000, which included a 50-50 ownership structure, and the payment of top-up fees to GKN to compensate for a disparity in profit levels between Agusta and Westland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In January 2002, AgustaWestland announced that it would be cutting a total of 950 jobs in the United Kingdom and closing its factory in Weston-super-Mare, which carried out customer support work, as activity was concentrated at its main site in Yeovil.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 26 May 2004, GKN confirmed that it had agreed to sell its share of AgustaWestland to Finmeccanica for £1.06 billion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The sale was approved by the British government in October 2004.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

AgustaWestland opened offices in Philadelphia in 2005 and won a contract to build the new presidential helicopter Marine One over the U.S. manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft, but this program was cancelled in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2005, it was announced that AgustaWestland had agreed to acquire Bell Helicopter's 25 per cent interest in the AB139 medium twin helicopter program, and to increase its interest in the BA609 civil tiltrotor aircraft from 25 per cent to 40 per cent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Qinetiq AgustaWestland AW109E Power arrives for the 2014 Royal International Air Tattoo, England

In June 2008, AgustaWestland and the Russia-based helicopter manufacturer Russian Helicopters agreed to form a new joint venture company to assemble AW139 helicopters in Russia.Template:Cn Construction of a $50 million helicopter assembly facility in the town of Tomilino near Moscow began in June 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In early 2010, AgustaWestland acquired PZL-Świdnik, a Polish helicopter manufacturer.<ref>Gazeta Wyborcza article from 2 February 2010 [1]</ref>

In September 2012, AgustaWestland and Northrop Grumman announced the signing of a comprehensive teaming agreement under which the companies would jointly bid for contracts to build the U.S. Air Force Combat Rescue helicopter and U.S. Navy's new "Marine One" presidential helicopter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In March 2013, AgustaWestland announced its Project Zero hybrid tiltrotor/fan-in-wing technology demonstrator. The unmanned demonstrator made its first tethered flight in June 2011 at AgustaWestland's Cascina Costa, Italy facility. According to the company, the aircraft "employs no hydraulics, doesn't burn fossil fuel and generates zero emissions."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

AgustaWestland AW101 order controversy

Template:See also India signed a contract to purchase 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters in February 2010 for the Communication Squadron of Indian Air Force to carry the president, PM and other VVIPs. The contract was frozen in February 2013 after allegations surfaced that US$60 million had been paid as a bribe.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 12 February 2013, Giuseppe Orsi, the CEO of Finmeccanica, was arrested by Italian authorities;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the following day Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony ordered a probe into the contract.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In January 2014, India cancelled the US$630 million deal, subsequently recovering the sum which it had paid.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Merger into Leonardo

In 2016, following a corporate reorganisation, AgustaWestland merged into Leonardo S.p.A., Finmeccanica's new name.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With this reorganisation, AgustaWestland ceased to exist as a separate company, and it became Leonardo's helicopter division.

In 2020 Leonardo relaunched the "Agusta" brand for the VIP helicopter sector. The launch of the new brand was announced during Expo 2020 in Dubai.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Products

Model First flight Production status MTOW Description
Agusta A129 Mangusta 1983-09-11 present 4.6t attack helicopter
AgustaWestland Apache 1998-09 2004 9.5t attack helicopter, GKN-Westland license of the AH-64 Apache, 67 built for the British Army
AgustaWestland AW101/EH101 (Merlin) 1987-10-09 present 14.6t three-engine medium-lift helicopter
AgustaWestland AW109 1971-08-04 present 2.85t eight seats twin-engine
AgustaWestland AW109S Grand 1988 present 3.175t AW109 stretch
AgustaWestland AW119 Koala 1995-02 present 2.85t eight seats single-engine, development of AW109
AgustaWestland AW139 2001-02-03 present 7t 15-seat twin-engine (former Bell/Agusta AB139)
AgustaWestland AW149 2009-11-13 present 8.6t medium-lift military helicopter
AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat 2009-11-12 present 6t Lynx development
AgustaWestland AW169 2012-05-10 present 4.8t 10-seat twin-engine
AgustaWestland AW189 2011-12-21 present 8.3t twin-engine medium-lift helicopter
AgustaWestland AW249 2022-08-12 present 7t attack helicopter, A129 replacement
AgustaWestland AW609 2003-03-06 present 7.62t tiltrotor (former Bell/Agusta BA609)
AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant 2000-05-31 present 14.6t AW101 Canadian air-sea rescue designation
AgustaWestland Project Zero 2011-06 present Template:Dunno hybrid tiltrotor/fan-in-wing demonstrator
Bell-Agusta 412 1979-08 present 5.4t licensed twin-engine
Boeing MH-139 Grey Wolf 2019-01 present 7t military helicopter, a development of AW139 with Boeing
Kopter AW09 2014-10 present 2.65t former SH09
Lockheed Martin VH-71 Kestrel 2007-07-03 2009 14.6t cancelled USMC Marine One AW101 VIP variant with Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter)
NHI NH90 1995-12-18 present 10.6t twin-engine military helicopter (NHIndustries is 62.5% Eurocopter, 32% AgustaWestland and 5.5% Fokker Aerostructures)
PZL W-3 Sokół 1979-11-16 2015 6.4t twin-engine
PZL SW-4 1996-10-29 present 1.8t single-engine
TAI/AgustaWestland T-129 2009-09-28 present 5t attack helicopter, a development of A129 development with TAI
Westland Lynx 1971-03-21 present 5.33t military helicopter
Leonardo Proteus mid-2025 (planned) present 2.8-3t uncrewed rotorcraft developed primarily for the Royal Navy

See also

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Comparable major helicopter manufacturers:

References

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Template:AgustaWestland aircraft Template:Leonardo S.p.A. Template:Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom

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