Naval Air: Search And Rescue In The Persian Gulf

Archives

April 5, 2015: The UAE (United Arab Emirates) has ordered nine AW139 helicopters from Britain (Agusta Westland). These aircraft usually sell for about $15 million each. Three are for civilian (VIP transport) and six for military (search and rescue) use. These eight ton choppers carry up to 15 passengers and can get by with just one pilot. Cruise speed is 288 kilometers an hour and endurance averages 3.2 hours. The AW139 competes with the U.S. UH-60 and another European helicopter, the slightly larger NH90. The VIP versions are configured to carry fewer people but in more comfort.

Agusta Westland provides AW139s in many other variants like transports or ambulances. Most, however, are bought for search and rescue and VIP transport. Often AW139s are built for dual-use. Agusta Westland designed the AW139 to replace the many UH-1 (and civilian versions) Agusta Westland had produced under license for many year. Introduced in 2003, nearly 800 have been built or ordered so far. 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close