Italian AW129 Mangusta Replacement

This could prove timely for Australia's planned ARH Tiger replacement.
 
Hood said:
Looks like Leonardo will soon be developing a new attack helicopter for Italy.
Surprising they haven't gone for an off-the-shelf purchase. Leonardo might see a worthwhile export market though in something based off another AW product (maybe the AW159?).

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/italy-presses-ahead-with-aw129-attack-helicopter-rep-433209/
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From what is described in the article sounds like it will be a thoroughly upgraded AW129, akin to the latest Apache. Given the apparently low risk approach not surprised Italy going for a domestic solution.
 
GTX said:
This could prove timely for Australia's planned ARH Tiger replacement.
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Wait, they just bought those things less than 10 years ago. How is replacing them possibly going to be cheaper than fixing whatever issues they might have?
 
TomS said:
GTX said:
This could prove timely for Australia's planned ARH Tiger replacement.
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Wait, they just bought those things less than 10 years ago. How is replacing them possibly going to be cheaper than fixing whatever issues they might have?
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I'm struggling to source good web articles to site/ link but long story short the Tiger has been (for various reasons not all the helicopters fault) has been a procurement disaster for the Australians and they now only plan to operate them till the middle of next decade. This mirrors other issues with Australian helicopter programmes.
Perhaps other contributors can find and post links please :)
So for various reasons Australia want rid and an extensive rebuild and/ or new Tigers very unlikely to be a runner.
 
kaiserd said:
From what is described in the article sounds like it will be a thoroughly upgraded AW129, akin to the latest Apache. Given the apparently low risk approach not surprised Italy going for a domestic solution.
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The article specifically mentions "the transmission and main and tail rotors from the AW149". Since the AW149's rotor diameter is 2.70 m greater than that of the A129, I guess were looking at a Mangusta update with an equivalently lengthened rear fuselage?

No mention of new engines, though. Maybe CTS800-4As as per the TAI/AgustaWestland T129?
 
Already an artwork available !??
 
Maybe they're dusting off the Tonal project.
 
TomS said:
GTX said:
This could prove timely for Australia's planned ARH Tiger replacement.
Click to expand...

Wait, they just bought those things less than 10 years ago. How is replacing them possibly going to be cheaper than fixing whatever issues they might have?
Click to expand...

The Aust Govt announced in the 2016 Defence White Paper that "The Government will replace the 22 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance helicopters with a new armed reconnaissance capability from the mid-2020s.". This was the basis for my comment.

The ARH Tiger has been a less than stellar program for Australia. There are many reasons (some true, others not) for this and one could argue the issue and the merits of the proposed replacement for ages. Regardless, at this stage there is a stated desire to replace the existing platforms in the mind 2020s. Based upon this and the new AW129 replacement program, this could prove interesting and depending on how things go, could prove quite timely.
 

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