Boeing Copyright Boeing has teamed with Italian Leonardo to offer latter’s AW139 based military helicopter for U.S. Air Force’s UH-1N “...
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| Boeing Copyright |
The helicopter, dubbed MH-139 is based on the commercial Leonardo AW139 helicopter which has been in production since 2001.
The Bell UH-1N Huey entered USAF service in 1970 for search and rescue missions, which was later expanded to include protection of intercontinental ballistic missiles and transportation of U.S. government and security forces.
USAF requires the helicopter to be capable of an unrefueled range of 225 nautical miles, carrying nine fully equipped troops with a speed of at least 135 kt.
The draft proposal released by USAF in 2016 called for a requirement for up to 84 helicopters.
As a prime contractor, Boeing will integrate the military specific equipment and provide logistics support. The commercial AW139 is already produced from Leonardo’s Philadelphia plant, from where more than 250 of these have been delivered.
With a maximum take off weight (MTOW) of 6,800 kg, the MH-139 is powered by two Pratt &Whitney Canada PT6C-67C turboshaft engines rated at Take-Off: 1,679 shp each.
Leonardo claims the MH-139 can save more than $1 billion in acquisition and life-cycle costs over its 30 year service life.
Other competitors will include the Bell UH-1Y, Sikorsky UH-60M and Airbus Helicopters UH-72A Lakota.
