If the United States Army (US Army) gets its newest multirole transport helicopter, namely the Sikorsky UH-60V Black Hawk, then the US Air Force (USAF) apparently does not want to be left behind in asking for modernization quotas in the multirole transport helicopter class.
Taking a different choice from the US Army, the USAF chose the collaboration of Boeing and Leonardo Helicopters to fill the multi-mission helicopter segment.
Quoted from defense-blog.com (28/8/2022), Leonardo and Boeing have delivered the first four MH-139A Gray Wolf test helicopters to the US Air Force as service to replace the aging UH-1N helicopter fleet.
The MH-139A Gray Wolf is a multi-mission helicopter based on Leonardo's proven AW139 helicopter base designed to protect and transport US government officials and security forces. Boeing was awarded a $2.4 billion contract in September 2018 to manufacture 80 helicopters, training systems and related support equipment.
The delivery milestone comes after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the final additional type certificate required to complete the US Department of Defense's Form 250 and officially begin helicopter acceptance. Boeing and the US Air Force will now continue with additional development and initial operational testing to support the aircraft.
Leonardo manufactures helicopters at an FAA-certified Part 21 facility in northeast Philadelphia, while Boeing is responsible for procurement and installation of military equipment, and helicopter post-delivery support.
The convenience offered by the MH-139A Gray Wolf is the ease of adaptation and maintenance, where the MH-139A has many specifications in common with the AW139. Before being marketed to the US via Boeing, in Italy, Leonardo Helicopters had already released the AW139M – Modern Medium Lift Utility Helicopter.
The AW139M itself is basically a military version of the AW139, and in Indonesia the AW139 has been known as the most sophisticated helicopter with the highest endurance capability owned by BASARNAS (National SAR Agency).
Technically, the AW139 can be juxtaposed with the H225M Caracal and Black Hawk helicopters, which already rely on a full glass cockpit, twin engines, and do not have a ramp door.
The AW139M and MH-139A Gray Wolf are designed to support a wide range of missions, ranging from surveillance, utility, troop transport, special force insertion, medevac (medical evacuation), Combat SAR, command & control, and fire support (assistance firing).
The AW139M adopts five main rotor blades. Its power source comes from two 2 x Pratt & Whitney PT6C-67C turbine engines. With the support of One Engine Inoperative (OEI) technology, the engine is designed to be adaptive in various extreme conditions. Good hovering ability is also the allure of the AW139 as a formidable combat helicopter.
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| Heavy machine gun on door gun |
In terms of avionics, the cockpit technology is classified as a state-of-the-art display with 4-axis digital autopilot (with hover mode) and full digital electronic engine control (FADEC) minimizing pilot workload and optimizing operational efficiency.
As a military helicopter, the AW139M certainly has its own characteristics, this can be seen from the presence of NVG (Night Vision Goggles) that are compatible with lighting outside and inside the helicopter, secure communications including V/UHF, HF, and Satcom lines, as well as tactical data. the following link is a video data link.
So what about weapons? The AW139M can be fitted with left and right wing pylons. In this pylon can be installed FFAR rockets and anti-tank missiles, even air-to-air missiles.
Not to be outdone by the Black Hawk, there is a window gun that can be fitted with a 7.62 mm caliber FN MAG machine gun. Or if you want to be even more sadistic on the door gun, you can install a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun in the M2HB Browning class.
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