Portugal is eyeing a mid-life upgrade (MLU) for its air force fleet of Leonardo Helicopters AW101s, as the type approaches 20 years in operational service for the nation.
“We are debating that topic with Leonardo, to see what are the options,” says Major General Joao Nogueira, director of the Portuguese air force’s weapon systems maintenance directorate.
“We are talking more about the avionics and sensor suite,” he told journalists at the service’s headquarters in Lisbon on 26 March. “We don’t have any issues with the engine,” he adds, referring to the type’s three Safran Helicopter Engines RTM322 powerplants.
“We need to know what a modification could be – the length, the finance involved,” he says.
Where possible, Lisbon will look to draw on MLU activities being advanced for other AW101 operators, such as a project being performed for Canada’s Cormorant search and rescue (SAR) rotorcraft, and another under consideration by Denmark.
“We are looking to those options, because they already have engineering studies and analysis, so it can be easier, faster and more robust,” he says. “The idea is to have an approach that is as common as possible.”
Nogueira says the range performance of the AW101 is important to Portugal when performing complex SAR missions to the nation’s island territories in the Atlantic Ocean.
“We have been challenged to do some rescue activities at the limits of the limits,” he says of the type’s in-service performance. “It is a complex machine, but it gives us that range.”
Aviation analytics company Cirium records the Portuguese air force’s 12 AW101s as being aged between 18 and 20 years. The service introduced the type to operational use in 2006.
European Defence Editor Craig Hoyle has reported on the UK, European and international military aviation sector for almost 30 years, and has also been the Editor of Flight International since 2015. He joined FlightGlobal in 2003, and also compiles our annual World Air Forces directory.View full Profile
