PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy helicopter pilot training experts are ordering 26 TH-73A trainer helicopters from Leonardo Helicopters U.S. in Philadelphia under terms of a $110.6 million order announced in December.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking Leonardo Helicopters, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leonardo S.p.A. in Rome, to provide the TH-73A lot-4 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 Leonardo Helicopters AW119M 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 Navy took delivery of its first TH-73A in June 2021.
The AW119M has Garmin G1000H glass avionics, with a cockpit design to enhance situational awareness to reduce pilot workload. This order is in support of the Advanced Helicopter Training System program.
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 with its glass cockpit 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 order Leonardo Helicopters will do the work in Philadelphia; Mineral Wells, Texas; and other locations outside the U.S., and should be finished by December 2024. For more information contact Leonardo Helicopters online at https://helicopters.leonardo.com/en/products/aw119m, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
