The Leonardo TH-119 helicopter was selected by the U.S. Navy to replace the current fleet of Bell TH-57 training helicopters. Leonardo, which includes subsidiary AugustaWestland, offered the Navy a military variant of the civil AW119. The initial contract is for 32 aircraft, expected to be delivered in 2021. The Navy plans to purchase a total of 130 aircraft, to be delivered by 2024. The total value of the contract is $648.1 million.
According to Capt. Todd St. Laurent, Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program Manager, “The new Leonardo TH-73A helicopters are the cornerstone of AHTS (advanced helicopter training system), which is the planned replacement to address the capability and capacity gaps of the current aging TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopter training platform.”
He added that “The TH-73A will provide a modern helicopter training platform that will serve rotary and tiltrotor training requirements into the foreseeable future. These new helicopters will ensure the Navy has capacity to train several hundred aviation students per year at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field in Milton.”
The aircraft will be built at Leonardo’s AugustaWestland Philadelphia Corp, facility in Philadelphia, PA.
The deal follows Leonardo’s commitment to build a 130-aircraft support facility in Milton, Florida.