Italian Leonardo presented its new attack helicopter AW-249 at DIMDEX Qatar.Leonardo’s previous attack helicopter, AW-129, did not succeed in the international market until Turkish Aerospace TUSAŞ received its production and export rights. The T129 Atak helicopter received much attention with its more powerful engine and avionics.
On the other hand, the Italian land forces wanted to renew their fleet with a new design. The new helicopter targeted the international market as well. During the international exhibition “DIMDEX 2024”, the Italian Leonardo presented its new attack helicopter AW-249, under development. The helicopter performed its maiden flight in August 2022. So far, Leonardo has built and tested two prototypes, but two more will be produced by 2024. The AW-249 is being developed as a multi-role helicopter, which includes combat, escort, intelligence gathering and processing, and targeting. The AW-249 has the OTO Melara TM197B 20mm machine gun and Spike anti-tank missiles and incorporates Israel’s Rafael electrooptical Toplite. The maximum take-off weight is 8.3 tons and incorporates two General Electric CT7-8E6 engines with a maximum power of 2,503 hp each. The AW-249 achieves a maximum speed of 287 kilometres per hour with a typical flight speed of 259 kilometres per hour. Its typical range is 796 kilometres or four hours of flight time. The maximum flight height is 6,100 meters.
