Leonardo Helicopters now expects to have its full complement of four AW249 Fenice test aircraft flying by the early part of 2025, as development of the next-generation attack helicopter continues to progress.
Although the airframer had previously hoped that all four test assets – a single prototype and three pre-production examples – would be airborne by the end of this year, the date has slipped slightly due to the demands of its Italian army customer.
In an unusual move, the army requested the participation of one of the fleet in its recent Stella Alpina exercise, which took place in mid-September and saw the attack helicopter operating at altitudes above 2,000m (3,700ft) in the north of the country.
As a result of the preparations required to support that short-notice deployment, the first flight schedule for the remaining two rotorcraft has been shuffled back slightly from a previous year-end target, says AW249 programme manager Alessandro Alfonso.
Under the revised timeline for the arrival of the two outstanding pre-serial (PS) aircraft, PS4 will be the next to get airborne – a maiden sortie is expected before the end of 2024 – and will be followed early next year by PS2.
The unusual sequencing is in keeping with the rest of the AW249 fleet: aircraft PS3 was actually the first to fly, in August 2022, followed in March 2023 by aircraft number 1, the programme’s only prototype.
But, says Alfonso, the programme has been structured so it is capable of “managing additional requests” without causing significant disruption.
“In some cases, our customers have different requirements and the flexibility we have built in allows us to reschedule the activity as required.”
Although each helicopter is allocated a primary role in the test programme – avionics or weapons integration, for example – there is sufficient overlap between each rotorcraft to permit a more flexible approach, he says.
Despite the final aircraft now not flying until early next year, there will be no change to the overall programme schedule, Alfonso notes, with deliveries to the Italian army due to begin in 2027.
Army crews have yet to get behind the controls of the AW249, although a test pilot from Italy’s Armaereo military airworthiness regulator – a former army aviator – has flown the helicopter.
“We wanted [Armaereo] to be part of the evaluation, even if we are still in development, in order to share some issues and solve them prior to a formal application for qualification testing,” says Alfonso. “This pilot has already flown the AW249 and provided us feedback.”
Activities performed this summer by the two helicopters currently flying have included medium-altitude and hot-weather trials, both carried out in Calabria in southern Italy.
In the latter case, this allowed validation of improvements introduced following an earlier round of hot-weather testing performed in Spain during the summer of 2023.
Next year, this will be complemented by high-altitude testing, although an exact location for the campaign has yet to be determined, says Alfonso.
In addition, firing campaigns for the AW249’s weapons will continue, building on previous tests with the 20mm Oto Melara TM197B chin gun and 70mm unguided rockets in March this year.
Tests of Rafael Spike and Spike ER air-to-surface missiles, and an undisclosed air-to-air missile, are due to take place in the first quarter of 2025.
Rome has so far ordered seven AW249s, with another 12 requested, from a total requirement for 48 helicopters, to be delivered at a rate of seven to eight units per year from 2027.
Designed as a replacement for the army’s current fleet of AW129 Mangusta attack helicopters, the Fenice fleet is designed to “face threats for the next 30 years,” says Leonardo Helicopters head of marketing Luca Colombo.
“It is introducing new capabilities and technologies – it is something more than just the newest combat helicopter,” he says.
A “truly open architecture” will allow new sensors and systems to be integrated to meet “evolving threats”, says Colombo.
Although launched with a set of baseline requirements, the Italian army has already identified four new capabilities – integration with air-launched effects, handover of very-long-range munitions, anti-drone protection, and AI for operations and logistics – to be added as part of a spiral upgrade programme.
Despite a maximum take-off weight of 8.3t – almost double that of the Mangusta – the AW249 retains the manoeuvrability of its predecessor, adding an advanced package of sensors and sensor-fusion technology to allow it to “fly below the tops of the trees” at over 100kt (185km/h), even in degraded visibility.
That will include the subsequent roll-out of an AI-driven “navigation aid tunnel” – a projection inside the helmet visor guiding pilots down a safe flightpath avoiding obstacles and threats.
Leonardo Helicopters is staying silent for now on the supplier of the helmet, but says the advanced functionality is similar to that offered to pilots of the Lockheed Martin F-35.
Based around the transmission and dynamic components, and twin GE Aerospace CT7 engines, of the company’s AW149 transport, the Fenice also benefits from that helicopter’s 50min main gearbox run-dry capability.
