AgustaWestland AW101

AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin
AgustaWestland AW101 of the Italian Aeronautica Militare
Type:	Medium-weight transport helicopter
Design country:	Italy United Kingdom
Manufacturer:	Agusta Westland Helicopters
First flight:	October 9, 1987
Commissioning:	2000
Production time:	In series production since 1990

The tank probe of the AgustaWestland AW101

Blade-shaped rotor blade end of a Merlin

The AgustaWestland AW101 , known as the EH101 until 2007 , is a medium-sized transport helicopter that was developed as a joint venture between Agusta in Italy and Westland Helicopters in England for military purposes. It has been in service in several countries since 2000. A civil version was later developed based on the military version.

development

In 1977 the Royal Navy needed a new anti-submarine helicopter to replace the Sea King . Westland presented its design WG.34 , which was also selected for development in 1978. The Italian Navy also needed a successor for the Sea King and commissioned Agusta with it, which, however, led to major changes to the WG.34 concept. This led to talks between the two companies and the EH Industries joint venture was founded in 1979. In 2000 the two companies merged to form AgustaWestland .

The official product definition phase of the EH101 began in June 1981. However, the development contract for the construction of nine prototypes was not signed until March 7, 1984. The first flight of the prototype took place in Yeovil on October 9, 1987. The UK Department of Defense received its first order for 44 machines on October 9, 1991.

At the end of 1996 the first series machine of the Merlin HM Mk1 flew, after which the troop trials dragged on over several years. It was not until October 2001 that the first deployment squadron was set up with the 814 Squadron. Since 2006, the helicopter named AW101 now be the British Royal Navy as the first world with an electromechanical fly-by-wire equipped system, which by BAE Systems was developed.

Under the designation VH-71 "Kestrel", the AW101 was supposed to replace the American President's Marine One helicopter. The Marine One are so far special variants of the UH-60 (VH-60N) and S-61 (VH-3D). However, this project was abandoned by the new US President Barack Obama because of escalating costs in favor of extending the service life of the Sikorsky S-61.

The AW101 helicopters are produced in the AgustaWestland plants in Yeovil, England, and Cascina Costa in northern Italy .

variants

Materials used for the AW101

EHI 01 Series 100

Original name of the base helicopter - the number 101 was created by a reading error and typographical error when the I slipped as 1 in front of the number.

EH 101 Series 110

SH-101A , ASW version of the Marina Militare Italiana with radar cover under the hull for the rotating antenna of the Eliradar APS-784. Equipment also includes the HELRAS Mk.2 sonar, GPS, TACAN, radar warning receiver FLIR Safire, as well as torpedoes MU-90 / Mk 46 or Marte Mk 2 / S anti-ship guided weapons and MS500 depth charges.

EH 101 Series 111

Merlin HM.1 , the original standard of the British Navy for fighting submarines and ships ( ASW ), 44 newly built specimens

Merlin HM.2 as part of the Merlin Capability Sustainment Program (MCSP), 30 converted HM Mk.1

EH 101 Series 112

EH-101A , AEW variant of the Marina Militare Italiana with APS-784 radar, but with a larger antenna in a larger radome than the Series 110 variant. Also known as HEW.

EH 101 Series 200

Multi-purpose model for marine tasks without a stern ramp

EH 101 Series 300 (Heliliner)

Civilian passenger version

EH 101 Series 400

Series for army tasks with stern ramp

EH 101 Series 410

UH-101A , Marina Militare Italiana (TTH) multipurpose helicopter , simple version with stern ramp

EH 101 Series 411

Merlin HC.3 , British Royal Air Force (RAF) multipurpose helicopter , 22 pieces, 2014 transfer to the Royal Navy (RN)

Merlin iHC.3 , multi-purpose helicopter of the RN, slightly improved on-board conversions as an intermediate step to version HC.4, 7 converted HC.3

Merlin HC.4 , command helicopter for the Royal Marines , as part of the MCSP program (see Merlin HM Mk.2) converted HC Mk.3 / iHC.3 of the RN, including retrofitting of foldable rotors and tail boom, corrosion protection, reinforced landing gear , Lashing points, abseiling device and the glass cockpit similar to the Merlin HM Mk.2, 19 pieces in total (12 converted HC.3 and 7 iHC.3)

EH 101 Series 413

Multipurpose helicopter (ASH) of the Marina Militare Italiana . State-of-the-art version for the use of special troops with APS-717 in the newly designed nose and FLIR as well as radar warning receiver (ELT / 156X), laser warner (RALM 01 / V2) and guided missile sensor (EADS MILS). In addition, there is an ILS and a laser radar from Galileo for obstacle warning and provisions for an air refueling probe and an optional 12.7 mm and two 7.62 mm machine guns.

EH 101 Series 500

Civilian passenger version with stern ramp

EH 101 Series 510

Multipurpose helicopter variant of the Tokyo Prefectural Police

EH 101 Series 511

AW520 or CH-149 Cormorant, SAR variant of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

EH 101 Series 512

Multipurpose / SAR helicopter variant for the Danish Air Force , 6 copies

Merlin HC Mk.3A , multi-purpose helicopter of the RAF, 6 copies taken over from Denmark, handed over to the RN in 2014

Merlin HC Mk.4A , command helicopter for the Royal Marines, converted HC Mk.3A analogous to version HC.Mk.4, 6 copies

EH 101 Series 514

SAR variant of the Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP)

EH 101 Series 515

CSAR variant of the FAP

EH 101 Series 516

Fisheries Monitoring (SIFICAP) variant of the FAP

EH 101 Series 611

HH-101A Caesar , CSAR variant of the Italian Aeronautica Militare

AW 101 Series 643

VVIP (presidential machine) variant of the Turkmen Air Force

CH-101 / MCH-101 (AW101 Series 518)

Transport and mine clearance version of the MEXT and the Japanese Navy (also KHI-101 , since most copies were built by KHI )

VH-71A "Kestrel" (AW101 Series 519)

→ Main article : Lockheed Martin VH-71

Was the planned VIP transport version for the USMC to carry the US President and his staff. On September 22, 2008, the first machine of the Increment 1 standard had its maiden flight. However, the program was discontinued for cost reasons.

Users

Royal Navy “Merlin” helicopter

 Algeria

Air force : 2 AW101 VVIP (incoming)

Marine : 6 AW101 (incoming)

 Denmark

Danish Air Force : 14 AW101 Merlin Srs 512

 Italy

Marina Militare Italiana : 21 , 8 AW101 Srs 110 / SH-101A, 4 AW101 Srs 112 / EH-101A, 8 AW101 Srs 410 / UH-101A (plus 4 options, addition until 2020)

Aeronautica Militare Italiana : 12 AW101 Srs 611 HH-101A (delivery from the end of 2014)

 India

Indian Air Force : 0 AW101 VVIP (12 copies firmly ordered, canceled in 2014 due to corruption allegations)

 Japan

Kaijō Jieitai : 15 , 1 AW101 Srs 510 for the Tokyo Police , 14 AW101 Srs 518 / MCH-101 Merlin

 Canada

Royal Canadian Air Force : 15 AW101 Srs 511 / CH-149 Cormorant (plus 9 VH-71 as spare parts donors), up to 7 more planned

 Nigeria

Air force : 2 AW101 VVIP (incoming)

 Norway

Royal Norwegian Air Force (Luftforsvaret) : 16 AW101 (plus 6 options, influx since late 2017)

 Poland

Polish Navy : 4

 Portugal

Força Aérea Portuguesa : 12 , 6 EH-101 Srs 514, 4 EH-101 Srs 515, 2 EH-101 Srs 516

 Saudi Arabia

Royal Saudi Air Force : 2 AW101 VVIP (appointed in 2009)

 Turkmenistan

Turkmen Air Force : 2 AW101 VVIP Merlin Srs 643

 United Kingdom

Royal Navy : 69 , 44 AW101 Srs 411 Merlin HM.1, 30 Srs 411 Merlin HM.2, 19 AW101 Srs 111 Commando Merlin HC.4, 6 AW101 Srs 512 Merlin HC.4A

Royal Air Force : 28 , 22 AW101 Srs 111 Merlin HC.3, 6 AW101 Srs 512 Merlin HC.3A

Technical specifications

Dimensions of the AW101

AW101 with folded rotor blades

Parameter	Data
crew	four
capacity	36 men seated, 50 standing or 16 stretchers for use as MedEvac helicopters
length	22.81 m (19.95 m hull length)
height	6.65 m
Main rotor diameter	18.59 m
Tail rotor diameter	4.01 m
Main rotor area	271 m²
Cabin length	7.09 m
Max. Cabin height	1.83 m
Cabin width	2.49 m
Empty weight	10,500 kg
Maximum take-off weight	14,600 kg
fuel	3222 l (normal), 5370 l (maximum) (probe for air refueling available)
External load	Max. 4545 kg
Engine	3 × Rolls-Royce / Turbomeca RTM322 -01 shaft drives, each 1725 kW (2312  shp ) emergency power and 1394 kW / 1868 shp continuous power or three General Electric CT7 -6 with 1491 kW / 2000 shp
Top speed	309 km / h
Max. Cruising speed	278 km / h
Rate of climb	9.98 m / s
Hover altitude	2225 m / 1128 m (with / without ground effect )
Service ceiling	4575 m
Range	AW101	927 km
	Merlin HM.1, ASW helicopter of the Royal Navy	370 km
Max. Duration of use	4 h 50 min

Armament

Intern

The following can be carried on rotating ball mounts on five different open cabin windows, doors or the tailgate:

• 3 × 7.62 mm FN L7A2 GPMG machine guns with several belt boxes for 200 rounds of ammunition each
• 3 × 12.7 mm Manroy Engineering L11A1 (M3M) machine guns with several belt boxes of 100 rounds of ammunition each
• 3 × 7.62 mm Gatling machine guns Dillon Aero M134D (GAU-2 / A) , each with a belt case for 4400 rounds of ammunition

External

With the Merlin-HM variants, the following can be carried at four external under wing stations under two suspension plates:

Torpedoes

• 2 × Alliant Techsystems torpedo Mk.46 Mod 5
• 4 × (Marconi) BAe Systems Sting-Ray torpedo (267 kg, can only be used against submarines )
• 4 × BAE water bomb Mk 11 Mod.3 (960 kg)
• 2 × A244-S - Torpedo Whitehead Moto Fides

Anti-ship missile

• 2 × MBDA Marte Mk.2 , command guided

Self-defense systems

• 4 × BAE AN / ALE-47 decoys at the rear of the main landing gear boom
• 2 × infrared interference radiators Northrop Grumman Nemesis AN / AAQ-24 DIRCM (Directional Infrared Counter Measures) on both sides in front of the side door
• 4 × radar warning sensors
• 4 × laser warning sensors
• 4 × guided missile warning sensors

See also

The following helicopters are competing products:

• Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone , the military variants of the Sikorsky S-92
• Eurocopter EC725 "Caracal"
• Kazan / Mil Mi-171Sch "Hip"
• NH Industries NH-90 NFH
• Sikorsky SH-3 "Sea King" (S-61)

Web links

Commons : AgustaWestland AW101  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Leonardo product side (English)
• Royal Air Force (British Air Force, English)
• Royal Navy ( Memento of September 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (British Navy, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ FlugRevue November 2008, pp. 49–52, Agusta Westland AW101 - aircraft down to the smallest detail.
2. ↑ First flight for upgraded Merlin HC4. In: flightglobal.com . Flightglobal, November 21, 2016 (English).
3. ↑ FlugRevue September 2009, pp. 40–45, EH101 in service with the Italian Navy.
4. ↑ Inventory list. In: helis.com .
5. ↑ Navy orders work stopped on potus chopper. In: thehill.com. May 15, 2009, archived from the original on May 17, 2009 ; accessed on January 3, 2020 (English). 
6. ↑ Canada to buy new Cormorant helos, upgrade existing fleet. In: janes.com . Janes, May 29, 2018 (English).
7. ↑ Norway receives first AW101 SAR helicopter. In: janes.com . Janes, November 19, 2017 (English).
8. ↑ Poland orders four AW101 helicopters for navy. In: flightglobal.com . Flightglobal, April 26, 2019 (English).
9. ↑ So that others can live , Rotorblatt , Dirk Jan de Ridder & Menso van Westrhenen, 4/2010.
10. ↑ Merlin ASW. Royal Navy (UK), archived from the original on September 28, 2010 ; Retrieved June 7, 2010 .