Military Variant of Leonardo AW609 Appears a Likely Option for Government Customers

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Military Variant of Leonardo AW609 Appears Likely

The U.S. Army's contract award to Bell to develop its V-280 tiltrotor for an assault aircraft raises speculation of the AW609's use as an escort vehicle.

Leonardo AW609 tiltrotor aircraft — Governments have expressed interest in the AW609 for use in search-and-rescue applications among other uses. (Image: Leonardo)

By Mark Huber • Contributor

June 13, 2023

Leonardo's acquisition of Bell’s share of the AW609 tiltrotor program in 2011 raised widespread speculation regarding the terms of the agreement, specifically about whether it precluded an armed, militarized version of the aircraft from ever coming to market. That conjecture increased last year when Leonardo Helicopters managing director Gian Piero Cutillo revealed that the company entered talks with the Italian government on the AW609, perhaps to develop a para-public version of the aircraft.

Then, in December, the U.S. Army awarded Bell the contract to develop its V-280 tiltrotor prototype into the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft. The V-280 has a maximum cruise speed approaching 300 knots, more than 100 knots faster than attack helicopters such as the current Boeing AH-64 Apache or the proposed Future Attack and Reconnaissance Aircraft, for which Bell and Sikorsky remain in competition. The award led to further speculation about the future military utility of the AW609, this time as a possible escort aircraft for the V-280.

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