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Leonardo has been awarded a $29 million contract award by the US Department of Defense (DoD) for new AW119Kx aircraft in the framework of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Israel.
With the US Army Contracting Command as the contracting activity, the aircraft will be fully produced at Leonardo’s facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense is already an AW119Kx customer, signing a contract in 2019 for a comprehensive range of integrated defense training capabilities, which included seven AW119Kx single engine helicopters to be produced in the United States.
The comprehensive training program also includes full flight simulators and other training devices, newly built facilities and a 20-year support package.
The single engine, multirole AW119 has proven increasingly successful in recent years in the world’s defense market for both training and operational mission profiles. In 2020, the US DoD awarded a contract for up to 130 AW119’s to replace the aging TH-57 Sea Ranger as the primary training helicopter for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, with 104 units on order to date.
Additionally, the Portuguese Air Force presently uses its fleet of five AW119s for training, medical evacuation, troop transport and short range maritime search and rescue and may be used for firefighting.
The number of AW119 operators continues to grow, having been chosen for defense, homeland security and law enforcement missions by operators in countries such as the US, Portugal, Finland, Latvia, Brazil, Ecuador, and the Republic of Korea, among others.
The versatile AW119 features both Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) capable core avionic systems for enhanced situational awareness, mission effectiveness and safety, giving operators different options to meet their specific needs. The aircraft delivers outstanding overall performance with a strong power margin and the largest cabin in its category, able to accommodate up to six passengers depending on configuration. Over 470 AW119s have been sold to date.
