PICTURE: Sweden takes delivery of first A109 LUH from AgustaWestland

Sweden has taken delivery of the first of 20 AgustaWestland A109 light utility helicopters (LUH), as it details its variant breakdown.

^{© FMV}

The country's defence procurement agency the FMV, took delivery of the first aircraft, which will take the designation of Hkp15, late last week in Stockholm. The aircraft will be prepared by the FMV for official hand-over in the second quarter. AgustaWestland will deliver 19 further A109 LUHs between now and 2009.

Sweden has ordered 12 A109s in Hkp15A configuration for the air force and a further eight in an Hkp15B naval configuration. The B variant will be capable of operating from the Swedish navy's Visby-class corvette stealth warship.

The FMV says the cost of the entire package including the aircraft, equipment and training is around SKr1.4 billion ($180 million).

Source: Flight International