Leonardo has secured the US Navy’s (USN’s) TH-XX training helicopter replacement requirement, with a USD176.5 million contract awarded on 13 January.
The award by the US Department of Defense (DoD) covers 32 of the Italian company’s AW119-derived helicopters, due to be delivered by the end of October 2021. In USN service, the AW119 will be designated TH-73A (prior to the contract award, Leonardo had designated its USN-specific variant of the AW119 as the TH-119).
Seen at the Sea-Air-Space conference outside Washington, DC, in May 2019, the TH-119 has now become the TH-73A with the award of a US Navy contract to deliver 32 new helicopters to fulfil its TH-XX replacement requirement. (Jane’s/Pat Host)
As noted by Leonardo, AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corporation is to be the prime contractor for the work, with the new TH-73As being built in Philadelphia.
While the contract is for 32 TH-73As, the USN has a requirement for up to 130 helicopters for the advanced training of USN, US Marine Corps (USMC), and US Coast Guard (USCG) undergraduate helicopter pilots. As such, follow-on orders are likely. Delivery of the first 32 TH-73As towards the end of 2021 will enable the USN to retire the Bell JetRanger-derived TH-57 that is set to be fully withdrawn from service by 2023.
In securing the TH-XX requirement, Leonardo beat off competition from Airbus Helicopters, which was offering the H135, and from Bell, which was offering the 429 GlobalRanger and 407GXi. When it submitted its offer earlier in 2019, Leonardo noted that its TH-119 was the only single-engined Instrument Flight Rules (IFR)-certified helicopter in production.
This article, first published 14 January 2020, is subject to a correction and has been amended.
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