On 2 December, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner and her Italian counterpart Lorenzo Guerini signed an intergovernmental administrative agreement in Rome. This is a so-called “preliminary document” to the intergovernmental Government-to-Government (G2) framework agreement reached earlier this year, which (provisionally) fixes the delivery of 18 Augusta-Westland AW169B/-M helicopters from the Italian manufacturer Leonardo to the Austrian Armed Forces.
Although a mutual letter of intent for this G2G deal was already signed in November, the document now marks the start of the implementation phase of the agreement, which will lead to the signing of the technical and contractual agreement by the respective experts by 20 December and the signing of the purchase contract at civil servant level by mid-January of next year in order to enable the delivery of the first helicopter to Austria at the end of 2022.
Statements
“The important thing about this administrative agreement with Italy is the cooperation that goes beyond the area of procurement. By this I mean, for example, training, logistics, material maintenance and the possibility of joint use of simulators,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner in Rome to local journalists who had traveled with her. The cooperation with the Italian armed forces will enable targeted training on the light multi-purpose helicopter starting as early as spring 2022 – with ten future flight instructors to begin with.
In his conversation with Minister Tanner, Minister Guerini emphasized the importance of the Austrian decision to equip itself with AW169M helicopters: “With the selection of this excellent product, we are at the beginning of a new cooperation in the procurement sector between the Austrian and Italian military” and added: “This is a virtuous example that is also of great value in terms of the development of joint capabilities – and functional for implementation in European defence.” Postponement to the rear
Originally – the type decision was made 14 months ago (Militär Aktuell reported) – it was planned that production of the helicopters (which takes around 18 months) would have started now, following the conclusion of the contract negotiations. At that time, it was assumed that the first AW169Ms would arrive in Austria as early as mid-2022, with the last ones arriving in spring 2024. Initial operational readiness (IOC) was to be achieved by the end of 2023, as this would mark the end of service of the more than 50-year-old Alouette III – at least at that time. This was to be followed by a series of upgrades for rescue equipment, sensors for aerial reconnaissance, armament and self-protection by 2025, each with an initial capability (IOC) and then full operational capability (FOC) (see graphic). Across the entire range of tasks, the latter – calculated from the type decision – should be achieved by the end of 2026.
However, this has now all been postponed by – at least – a few months. According to reports, the delay is partly due to the more laborious bilateral government negotiations (G2G), which were “somewhat underestimated” because several ministries are involved on both sides. On the other hand, the Covid-19 pandemic, with its travel restrictions and restrictions, is also likely to have contributed to the delay. This applies to the many necessary discussions and meetings at official level, but also at bilateral military level and the involvement of the manufacturer Leonardo. After all, the latter is supposed to build the aircraft and plan and partly develop the necessary deviations for Austria from the – as is always emphasized – highly sought-after “similarity” to the perhaps more than 100 AW169 helicopters of the Italian Army Air Corps in the final version.
The first two aircraft – probably AW169B – are now due to be handed over at the beginning of December 2022, with deliveries expected to last until 2025. The aforementioned individual capability upgrades and their verification and final full operational capability (FOC) will probably take until 2027. This means that AW169 and Alouette-III will still meet in 2023, but the full number of replacements will not be in the country by the time the latter officially comes to the end of its service life – if that is the case. In any case, the planned service life of the new system is at least 30 years – probably even longer in Austria.
Two different variants
The 18 machines for Austria will be divided into six AW169B and twelve AW169M.A. The document from ARMAERO (Italian Armaments Directorate), the helicopters ordered by the BMLV are each based on the Italian AW-169B (addestratore basico) and -M.A. (multiruolo avanzato) variants, with specific adaptations/configurations as requested by Austria. Leonardo handed over the first two AW-169 Basic Training Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) to the Italian Army Air Forces during an official ceremony in Lamezia Terme in July 2020. The introduction of the new generation training helicopter (designated UH-169B) will allow the Italian Army to prepare its crews for the future operational transition to the new multi-role LUH program, which aims at a longer-term fleet modernization and rationalization plan.
In the final stage, more than 100 ageing models such as the A109, AB206, AB205, AB212 and AB412 are to be gradually replaced on the basis of a “one single platform” approach. These first two UH-169Bs – the flight by Defense Minister Tanner and the journalists on 2 December took place in an aircraft described as “identical” – have retractable wheeled landing gear. Austria, however, prefers a skid undercarriage – as emphasized again during the visit. However, this will not be certified by the manufacturer until next summer, as will an EPP performance package that will get another 45 shaft horsepower out of each of the two engines. It is therefore still unclear whether the six B variants (also) dubbed as training helicopters will initially be delivered with wheels or skids, or whether the version in Italy may be converted later. In any case, one or two certification test vehicles with skid frames are currently flying in Italy. It is interesting to note that the ARMAERO document also explicitly includes an option for a further six B and twelve M.A. variants, although it is not known how long this option can be exercised – there was once such an option for the S-70 and it was allowed to expire. In any case, when talking to media representatives on site, they only wanted to talk about twelve options.
Armament
According to the military specifications, the armament should consist of the following components – Chief of Staff Robert Brieger explained this at the time of the type decision when asked by the Krone: Swivel trunnions for doorguns (see S-70), on-board cannon (12.7 mm and/or 2 cm), unguided 70-mm rockets and ideally also a version of these as a laser end-phased guided missile (APKWS), a FLIR that can be used for precise weapon deployment in addition to aerial reconnaissance tasks and a weapons computer integrated into the helicopter, including vision technology. The weapons are to be carried on carriers that can be fitted to and removed from the M.A. version of the helicopter within a few hours and are to be manufactured by Leonardo specifically for Austria – the Italians have other armed helicopters such as the Mangusta and, in future, the AW269. However, the weapons themselves will probably have to be procured separately – possibly in a G2G deal – as Leonardo does not manufacture them.
Click here for more news about Leonardo. And here are other media reports on the AW169 procurement in the Standard and in the Kleine Zeitung.
