PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy helicopter pilot training experts are ordering 32 TH-73A trainer helicopters from AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corp. in Philadelphia under terms of a $176.5 million contract announced Monday.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking AgustaWestland Philadelphia, a wholly owned subsidiary of wholly owned subsidiary of Leonardo S.p.A. in Rome to provide the TH-73A helicopters to replace the Navy's Bell TH-57B/C Sea Ranger training helicopters, which have been in service since the 1980s.
The TH-73A is based on the AgustaWestland AW119 Koala single-engine jet-powered multi-role helicopter, which accommodates a crew of one or two, and can carry as many as six or seven passengers.
The contract includes spare parts, support equipment, flyaway kits, hoists, sling loads, maintenance instructional training data, and instructor pilot and maintenance training. The AW119 has Garmin G1000H glass avionics, with a cockpit design to enhance situational awareness reduce pilot workload.
The helicopter can carry internal loads as heavy as 6,283 pounds, or external loads as heavy as 6,945 pounds. It can fly as fast as 131 knots, at distance to 515 nautical miles, and for as long as five hours and 20 minutes.
The aircraft is 42 feet, 5 inches long; 11 feet, 10 inches high; and has a rotor diameter of 35 feet, 6 inches. It can hover in ground effect at altitudes as high as 11,000 feet, and can hover out of ground effect at altitudes to 7,300 feet.
On this contract AgustaWestland will do the work in Philadelphia; Mineral Wells, Texas; and other U.S. locations, and should be finished by October 2021.
For more information contact AgustaWestland Philadelphia online at www.leonardocompany.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
