TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITY
The U.S. comprises 35 to 40 percent of the world’s military budgets. AgustaWestland has a clear goal of breaking into the U.S. military helicopter market and the recent Request for Information (RFI) issued by the Navy for a new single- engine, IFR-certifiable trainer looks like a real opportunity for the helicopter manufacturer to seize. AgustaWestland North America CEO Robert LaBelle says, “Based on the RFI put out by the U.S. Navy, it would seem that the AW119 Kx is a perfect fit and would be an excellent primary training helicopter for the U.S. Navy.”
It seems the military has moved away from long-range developments that require designing
a brand new aircraft from scratch in order
to meet some future need (think Comanche). Instead, it has shifted its focus to more immediate short-term needs. The trend of utilizing civil airframes as military platforms is becoming more commonplace in
the global
market. Not only is money saved, but also since civilian aircraft are FAA certified, they often meet or exceed military requirements from a flight standards perspective. This is not new territory for AgustaWestland; they have hundreds of aircraft in operation with several NATO allies.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
It’s pretty much agreed that if the U.S. Navy does nothing, it will be ‘nickel and dimed’ to death by rising budget overages required to maintain
The AW119 Kx is assembled in the U.S. at AgustaWestland’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, facility. Based in Philly since 1981, more than 600 employees provide AW assembly, customer support, and training.
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