YORKSHIRE, United Kingdom, 5 Jan. 2010. AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, announced that the first four Lynx Mk.9A upgraded helicopters were delivered to the British Army, just 12 months after contract award. Three of these four aircraft will be used by the Army Air Corps for conversion to type and conversion to role training at its Dishforth base in Yorkshire.
In 2010 the Lynx Mk.9A helicopters will deploy to Afghanistan to support British and coalition forces, where its rugged design will enable the aircraft to operate year round in Afhganistan's demanding environmental conditions, AgustaWestland officials say.
In addition to upgrading the aircraft AgustaWestland completed maintainer and aircrew training programs, delivered new Integrated Electronic Technical Publications, spares packages, and lap-top based training simulations. A further three aircraft will be delivered by April 2010, followed by the final five aircraft by September 2010, giving the British Army 12 Lynx Mk.9A helicopters three months ahead of the contracted date, company officials say. AgustaWestland is also working with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense (MOD) on a follow-on-contract to upgrade the remaining 10 Lynx Mk.9s to Mk.9A standard, which would see the final aircraft being upgraded by early 2012.
