15 Facts About AgustaWestland AW139

AgustaWestland AW139 is a 15-seat medium-sized twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland .

AgustaWestland AW139 was originally designed jointly by the Italian helicopter manufacturer Agusta and the American company Bell Helicopters, thus it was marketed as the Agusta-Bell AB139, but was redesignated as the AgustaWestland AW139 after Bell withdrew from the project.

Many of the AgustaWestland AW139 customers have been in the civilian sector; large fleets have been obtained by operators such as CHC Helicopter, Gulf Helicopters, and Weststar Aviation.

The AgustaWestland AW139 has been subsequently developed into the AW149, an enlarged medium-lift military-orientated rotorcraft.

One key market for the AgustaWestland AW139 was the oil and gas industry, which required helicopters of increased endurance for offshore operations.

Related searches

The AgustaWestland AW139 was the first of this group, and as of 2014, it was to be joined by the larger AW149 and AW189, aimed at military and civilian customers respectively.

The first AgustaWestland AW139 to be assembled in Russia made its first flight in December 2012.

In November 2015, AgustaWestland demonstrated a 60-minute "run-dry" test of an AW139's main gearbox, 30 minutes greater than any other certified rotorcraft at the time.

The AgustaWestland AW139 had been aimed at a vacant niche in the market, sitting below larger types such as the Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma and Sikorsky S-92, and above smaller ones like the Bell 412 and Eurocopter EC155.

AgustaWestland AW139 cockpit is based on the modular Honeywell Primus EPIC avionics system incorporating a four LCD screen glass cockpit.

Large sections of the AgustaWestland AW139 have been developed and produced by a range of different companies.

Irish Air Corps was the first military operator to introduce the AgustaWestland AW139; it took delivery of the first of a batch of six rotorcraft during August 2006.

In 2015, responsibility for the maintenance of CHC's AgustaWestland AW139 fleet was reorganized under their maintenance, repair and overhaul services division, Heli-One; early activities have included post-delivery modifications and engine overhauls.

In July 2014, AgustaWestland announce that the global fleet had accumulated in excess of one million flight hours; by this milestone, a total of 770 AW139s had been produced.

On 24 September 2018, the United States Air Force announced that the MH-139, an AgustaWestland AW139 variant, was the winner of a competition to replace the Vietnam-era Bell UH-1Ns, accordingly, the service is set to buy up to 84 MH-139s.