It is said in the Jane’s Defence Weekly that AgustaWestland is offering the AW139M to the Slovak Ministry of Defence (MoD) to fulfil an urgent requirement to replace Russian-made Mil Mi-17 ‘Hip’ medium transport helicopters.
The AgustaWestland announcement comes on the heels of a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) proposal made on 12 January to sell the Slovak MoD 9 Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk medium helicopters for €300 million ($347 million) including spare parts and training via the Foreign Military Sales programme.
«AgustaWestland is ready to make an offer to Slovakia with the AW139M and, of course, associated training and support», AgustaWestland spokesperson Geoff Russell told IHS Jane’s. «The offer will be very competitive if compared to the €300 million Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk offer. We are sure that, with a much lower cost, the AW139M perfectly fits the country’s requirement», Russell added.
Slovak defence minister Martin Glvac said on 12 January that while the MoD is taking the U.S. DoD offer very seriously, it will also consider bids from other helicopter manufacturers. Glvac also made it clear that an ultimate procurement decision would be made by the Slovak government and Slovak Security Council.
According to Jiri Kominek, Jane’s Defence Weekly correspondent, over the next six years the Slovak MoD is intending to replace 14 Mil Mi-17 medium transport helicopters that are rapidly nearing the end of their service life and proving expensive to operate and maintain. Furthermore the ongoing armed conflict in neighbouring Ukraine has prompted the Slovak MoD to not only modernise its armed forces with equipment in service with other NATO countries but also phase-out Russian-made legacy platforms over concerns of the availability and costs of spare parts.
AW139M helicopter
The AW139M is the militarised version of the AW139, a new generation intermediate twin-turbine helicopter setting the standard against which all intermediate twins are now measured. Building on the considerable worldwide success of the AgustaWestland AW139, the AW139M has been developed to meet the specific requirements of military, homeland security and government users.
The AW139M can be used for a wide range of applications including Surveillance, Utility/Troop Transport, Special Forces Insertion/Extraction, MEDEVAC (Medical evacuation)/CASEVAC (Casualty evacuation), SAR (Search and Rescue)/CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue), Command & Control, and Fire Support.
Designed with inherent multi-role capability and flexibility of operation, the AW139M is capable of carrying up to 10 fully equipped troops or 15 passengers at very high speed in its large unobstructed reconfigurable cabin. Additional stowage is accessible both from the cabin and externally. Two large cabin doors enable rapid ingress and egress of troops and personnel. The AW139M provides the best power reserve of any helicopter in the intermediate twin-engine class. It fully complies with the latest stringent FAR (Federal Aviation Regulations)/JAR (Joint Aviation Requirements)/EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) requirements in terms of performance and safety.
Its Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6C-67C turbines together with a state-of-the-art 5-bladed main rotor deliver a high cruise speed, even in demanding conditions and at all weights. The AW139M has outstanding power agility and maneuverability, providing excellent handling qualities in a wide range of operating conditions including «hot and high».
Leading edge technology includes a fully integrated avionics system, 4-axis digital AFCS (Automatic Flight Control System) with SAR modes, advanced NVG-compatible (Night Vision) cockpit, inlet particle separators and optional ice protection system that enable safe operation in day, night and all environments.
The AW139M can be tailored to meet specific user requirements utilizing a wide range of mission equipment kits including secure military V/UHF, HF and SATCOM radios, and heavy duty main and nose landing gear for operations from unprepared surfaces. As a result of the new design approach, the AW139M uses fewer components, benefits from integrated avionics and provides easy accessibility to all systems for simplified maintenance tasks.
Technical Data
Weights
Maximum take off (MTOW): 6,400/6,800*kg/14,110/14,991*lb
Maximum useful load: 2,650/3,050*kg/5,843/6,724*lb
* An optional MTOW (Internal) of 6,800 kg (14,991 lb) is available as a kit
Engine Rating (2 × Pratt & Whitney PT6C – 67C)
Take off power (5 min): 2 × 1,252 kW/2 × 1,679 shp
Maximum continuous power: 2 × 1,142 kW/2 × 1,531 shp
O.E.I.* maximum contingency power: 1,396 kW/1,872 shp
O.E.I.* maximum continuous power: 1,252 kW/1,679 shp
* One Engine Inoperative
Transmission Rating
Take off power (5 min): 1,641 kW/2,200 shp
Maximum continuous power: 1,491 kW/2,000 shp
O.E.I.* maximum contingency power: 1,193 kW/1,600 shp
O.E.I.* maximum continuous power: 1,044 kW/1,400 shp
* One Engine Inoperative
Fuel Capacity
Standard: 1,568 L/414 US gal
Auxiliary: 500 L/132 US gal
Crew
Pilots/passengers: 1 – 2/15
External Dimensions
Length (rotors turning): 16.66 m/54 ft 08 in
Overall height: 5.17 m/16 ft 12 in
Main rotor diameter: 13.80 m/45 ft 03 in
Performance (ISA*, 6400 kg/14110 lb)
VNE (Velocity Never Exceed): 310 km/h/167 knots
Maximum cruise speed: 306 km/h/165 knots
Rate of climb: >10.9 m/s/>2140 ft/min
Hovering IGE (In Ground Effect): 4,682 m/15,360 ft
Hovering OGE (Out of Ground Effect): 2,478 m/8,130 ft
Service ceiling (MCP**): 6,096 m/20,000 ft
Max range***: 1,250 km/675 NM
Max endurance***: 5 h 56 m
* International Standard Atmosphere
** Maximum Continuous Power
*** With 1,654 kg fuel – no reserve – at 1,829 m/6,000 ft
Equipment
- Engine air particle separators
- Closed circuit refueling system
- Auxiliary fuel tanks (500 L/132 US gal)
- Anti/de-icing system
- Wire strike protection
- Blade folding ship deck mooring
- Cargo hook
- Single/dual rescue hoist (272 kg/600 lb) with utility hoist light
- Cargo hook (2200 kg/4850 lb) with monitoring cameras
- External loudspeaker
- Self-contained EMS (Emergency Medical Supplies)/MEDEVAC kit
- Snow skis/ slump protection pads
- Cabin bubble windows
- Life rafts
- Search lights
- Marking for high visibility main rotor blades
- Emergency floats
- Customising painting scheme with metallic colours
- All weather covers
- Crashworthy Seating
- Modular Armour
- Troop seats and medevac stretchers
- Rappelling/ fast roping kit
- Armoured crew seats and armoured floor
- Wire strike protection system
- Defensive Aids Suite (DAS)
- IR Suppression system
- Self – sealing crashworthy fuel tanks
Avionics
- Cockpit Voice Recorder & Flight Data Recorder (CVR/FDR)
- Weather/search radar
- 4-axis Digital Automatic Flight Control System (DAFCS) with SAR modes & FMS SAR patterns
- Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS)
- Helicopter Operations Monitoring Programme (HOMP)
- NVG compatibility (cockpit & external lights)
- TCAS II (Traffic Collision Avoidance System II)
- FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared)
- Digital video recorder
- Video downlink
- Helicopter Emergency Exit Light System (HEELS)
- Auto-Deployable ELT (ADELT)
- Moving map
- Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS)
- Enhanced Vision System (EVS)
- HF radios
- Tactical radios
- Maritime radios
- SATCOM (Satellite Communications)
- Secure Comms
- Surveillance & Weather Radar
- Tactical Data Link
Armament
- Internal weapons (general purpose machine gun)
- Sniper rifle
- External weapons (Heavy machine gun pods & 2.75” rocket pods)
- Weapon management system with head up display
- Forward firing rockets and machine guns
- Pintle mounted machine gun
