US-139

[Old Redeye]

Date: 03/10/2005
AgustaWestland And L-3 Join Forces On Army LUH – Team US139

See links: http://www.agustawestland.com/communi....yy=2005

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/luh.htm


AgustaWestland, Inc. (AWI), headquartered in Reston, Virginia and L-3 Communications Integrated Systems (L-3/IS) of Waco, Texas, have announced their partnership and product entry in the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) competition at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Annual meeting in Washington D.C. Prime contractor AWI and principal partner L-3/IS will offer the US139 to the Army for LUH. The US139 is a customized, non-developmental variant of the modern, FAA certified, AB139 twin-engine helicopter now in service worldwide. It has the most spacious, functional and flexible cabin in its class, capable of carrying 15 passengers or 4 stretchers with 6 passengers. The US139 is capable of cruising in excess of 165 knots with a useful load of more than 6,000 lbs – designed from its inception as the replacement to the UH-1 “Huey.”

L-3/IS will perform final assembly and customization of Government specific avionics for the US139 helicopter at their Waco, Texas location utilizing Lean Manufacturing/Six Sigma facilities designed and laid out for this effort. In addition, L-3/IS will provide Contractor Logistic Support for the US139 LUH fleet. L-3/IS has modified more than 15,000 aircraft of more than 125 types. It provides contractor logistics support for approximately 40 percent of the U.S. Army aviation fleet as well as a majority of the rotary-wing training platforms used across the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. L-3 Integrated Systems also provides depot – and intermediate-level maintenance for Army National Guard and Department of Homeland Security Customs & Border Protection rotary-wing helicopters.

AgustaWestland has assembled a world-class industrial team to produce, deliver and support the US139. Supporting AWI and L-3/IS in this program are two of the industries finest major systems suppliers: Pratt &Whitney Canada (P&WC) and Honeywell. P&WC will supply the US139 with its powerful, reliable PT6C-67C turboshaft engines equipped with a Digital Engine Electronic Control. Honeywell will provide the Primus Epic integrated avionics system for the US139. In addition to its outstanding performance, capability and size, the US139 is compliant to the new demanding FAR/JAR 29 standards. It also offers true Category A Performance certification, meaning that it’s capable of flying away at max gross weight on only one engine. The US139 has tremendous growth potential – able to exceed today’s requirements with the flexibility to meet the demands of the future. Together this US139 team offers the most capable, responsive, survivable, reliable and supportable LUH helicopter to the US Army.
[IMG]

[Old Redeye]

Deadline Extended For Light Utility Helicopter Proposals
10/14/2005 10:27:24 AM
By Marc Selinger

The U.S. Army has briefly extended the deadline for contractors to submit proposals for the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) program, following a request for more time from one of the competitors.

The Army originally asked for all contractors proposals to be turned in by Oct. 12, but it recently agreed to delay the cutoff by eight days, to Oct. 20, after MD Helicopters requested an extension. MD Helicopters revealed Oct. 6 that it was parting ways with its major teammate, Lockheed Martin, for economic reasons.

MD Helicopters spokesman Ken Jensen said Oct. 13 that his company had hoped to make the original deadline but eventually realized it would need more time to revise its proposal to reflect Lockheed Martin's departure. The response to the Army's request for proposals (RFP) is expected to be more than 400 pages and be filled with technical information.

Lockheed Martin's pull-out "obviously created a disruption in completing the answer to the RFP, and it just took a little bit longer than we hoped to get everything down on paper," Jensen told The DAILY. "We wanted the opportunity to submit the very best possible response to the Army, and that's why we requested" an extension.

Jensen said he does not expect the extension request to hurt MD Helicopters' chances in the competition. The company believes its helicopter, the MD Explorer, is the only one that meets the Army's performance and price specifications.

"We feel very good about our chances," he said.

[pilatus]

i saw AB139 on tv working with the rescue effort in pakistan!so it got good high altitude performance anyway!

[pilatus]

i was just thinking there,the US are normally generous in donating military equipment so we could in the the future sign an FMS deal with them for the US139,whereby the US normally pays most of the bills!or does it have it catches written in the small text?