The new helicopter is ready for delivery to the Italian Air Force.
The AgustaWestland HH-101A “Caesar” is about to be delivered to the Italian Air Force.
The helicopter, a variant of the AgustaWestland AW101 advanced medium lift helicopter for Personnel Recovery, Special Forces Operations support, SAR, MEDEVAC and Slow Mover Intercept, is going to be assigned to 15° Stormo (Wing) based at Cervia, complementing the HH-139 already in service and fully replacing the recently retired HH-3F Pelican.
The HH-101A, configured to host a combination of up to five crew members plus 22 fully equipped troops or 6 crew members plus 8 troops for special operations, can carry three M134 7.62 mm pintle mounted Gatling-type machine guns, aerial refueling kit, armoured cockpit seats, ballistic protection for machine gun operators as well as for critical systems and an Integrated Electronic Warfare System providing self-protection against radar, laser and infrared threats.
Thanks to its three Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322-01 the combat chopper can reach a maximum speed of 167 knots with an operative range of 517 miles.
The Italian Air Force plans to operate 15 such helicopters.
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Recently, photographer Richard Cliff had the opportunity to visit Merryfield, a small airfield near Yeovilton Air Station which AgustaWestland and the Royal Navy use for helicopter training on a daily/nightly basis and took the stunning pictures of one of the HH101 destined to the Italian Air Force that you can find in this post.
Image credit: Richard Cliff
