Agusta Holds High Hopes for Australian Attack Helicopter

Asian Aerospace 2000 -- On 16 February 2000, Armando Caporaletti, Chairman and CEO of Agusta, opened his company's new headquarters in Canberra, Australia, during a ceremony attended by senior politicians and industry figures. The new facility will support Agusta's on-going bid to win the Australian Army's scout/attack helicopter requirement, to replace its existing fleet of Bell Model 206s and UH-1Hs.

Agusta is offering a derivative of its combat-proven A129 Mangusta attack helicopter, based on the improved A129 International version -- dubbed the A129 Scorpion. The A129 has seen front-line service with Italian units deployed on UN and other peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo. Agusta has teamed with the Tenix Group in its bid for the Australian competition, formally known as Project Air 87. The alliance with Tenix gives Agusta a perceptible advantage over its competitors, as Tenix is now Australia's only wholly-indigenously owned defense contractor.

Project Air 87 sets out a requirement for 26 new helicopters, and the A129 Scorpion has been seen by many as a front-runner. By late 1999 a short-list of three contenders had been drawn up including the Eurocopter "Aussie" Tiger and the Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache. However, in early 2000 the competition was re-opened as part of a major budget reassessment by the Australian Defence Ministry. The effect that this review will have on Project Air 87 is as yet unclear. Prior to the hiatus the attack helicopter competition was one the furthest advanced of several major procurement programs underway in Australia.

By Bill Sweetman