Leonardo Helicopters said that Pakistan has become the latest government customer for the AW139 medium twin-engine helicopter, ordering an undisclosed number for transport and medical evacuation missions. The Italian Coast Guard ordered two more of the same type, bringing its total fleet to 12. The Italian company, previously named AgustaWestland, claims market leadership for the AW139 in the intermediate weight class, with more than 960 sold to almost 240 customers in over 70 countries.

A significant proportion of those sales have been for defense and parapublic applications, such as trooplift, search and rescue, border patrol and maritime surveillance. Government customers for the AW139 include Algeria, Bangladesh, Cyprus, Estonia, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Panama, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, the UAE and the UK. Repeat orders have boosted the total, such as one from the Thai Army last October for eight, adding to the pair that it originally acquired.

Although most AW139s for government customers have been supplied from Leonardo’s production line in Vergiate, Italy, some have come from the company’s U.S. production line in Philadelphia. These include two for the Egyptian air force that were supplied via the U.S. foreign military sales (FMS) channel in 2011. The AW139 is a candidate to replace the 70 US Air Force UH-1N helicopters that transport operating crews to remote missile silos.

Leonardo says that the militarized AW139M version has the fastest cruise speed and highest power-to-weight ratio in its class, including outstanding one engine-out performance, even in hot-and-high operating conditions. It has the largest cabin, carrying up to 15 passengers, and an advanced integrated cockpit using Honeywell Primus Epic avionics that minimizes pilot workload. Military mission equipment can include radar, electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) sensors, defensive aids, video down-link, internal weapons, searchlight, loudspeakers, rescue hoist and cargo hook.