Article Posted on : - Apr 26, 2013

The AW169 AAS. Photo: AgustaWestland

AMSTERDAM (BNS): AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, has officially unveiled the latest generation AW169 AAS military helicopter.

The AW169 AAS is an advanced twin-engine helicopter with the capability to meet all US Army Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) mission requirements and provides a new-design, new-technology helicopter for the current and future battlefield, the company said in a statement.

The helicopter features high performance, advanced safety features and outstanding cost/effectiveness.

It is uniquely suited to perform and safely accomplish the widest range of US Army’s present and future Armed Reconnaissance missions including aerial escort, command and control, security operations, deep operations, target acquisition and targeting, fire support coordination.

A damage and ballistic tolerant fail safe airframe and rotorcraft system features multiple redundancies of all critical systems, excellent one engine inoperative (O.E.I.) capability, a 30 minutes 'run-dry' capable transmission, self-sealing crashworthy fuel system, crashworthy airframe and seating, heavy duty landing gear and armour protection for crew, fuel system and vital components as well as an advanced integrated self-defence suite, it said.

The AW169 AAS modern design for engines and blades reduces heat and noise signature further contributing to mission effectiveness and survivability

Excellent ergonomics in the cockpit allows an outstanding external visibility too. Avionics also includes an integrated 4-axis digital AFCS, advanced communications and data management system, a comprehensive sensors suite, synthetic vision and Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) / Head-up Display (HUD).

A combination of weapon systems comprises machine guns, rocket launchers and air-to-ground missiles.