Made in : From to the Finmeccanica Division

By Mauro Finati and Paolo Rollino

AgustaWestland’s main plant in Vergiate, Italy, the company’s primary production and test facility. (All photos by the authors.)

gustaWestland is one of the due to a sudden in‑flight failure; in 1913, (Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche most important helicopter Agusta started to work at the Meridionali) and SIAI (Società Idrovolanti Amanufacturers in the world today. factory. Immediately following Alta Italia). More than 4,800 AW take off World War I, he founded Costruzioni With the end of World War II, Agusta every day and the company has a full Aeronautiche with found itself at an impasse, due to the order‑book for the next 30‑36 months; overhaul workshops at Tripoli and ban on Italy to produce aircraft. Taking 2014 data shows revenues of €4.4B Benghazi in Libya, and Foggia, Italy. advantage of the boom in the ($4.9B) and a workforce of 12,850. Finally, in 1923, he moved to Cascina industry and the superiority of their own As the company is now in the midst Costa, a site close to the present day knowledge in mechanics, Domenico, of a name change (see sidebar), this ‑Malpensa Airport, article focuses on the past, present and which is still part of the future of helicopter production at the modern AgustaWestland company’s main manufacturing plant in production plant and Vergiate, Italy. helicopter test center. Giovanni died A Brief History of Agusta prematurely in 1927, and the company went under The Italian rotorcraft group traces the guidance of his wife, its origins to the beginning of the 20th Giuseppina, and his son, Century, when Giovanni Agusta designed Domenico. At Cascina and manufactured the AG‑1 in 1907, a Costa, Agusta expanded that made its first flight its activity by producing towed by a car during a public parade aircraft licensed from at Capua. A few years later, in 1911, he Fiat (originally, Fabbrica invented the first chute in order to Italiana Automobili A full of AW139s being checked out and awaiting flight be able to slow the descent of a plane Torino), Breda, IMAM testing.

32 VERTIFLITE March/April 2016 now alone at the head of the company, decided to establish a new company for the production and marketing of motor AgustaWestland is the bikes. Thus, in February 1945, Meccanica inmeccanica is the leading There appeared to be a lot Verghera Agusta was born and would high‑tech industrial group of confusion in the press and the produce more than 30 different models. Fin Italy and a top 10 global public when Finmeccanica officially But MV Agusta owes its fame and company in the , defense announced the divisions — just as notoriety to its racing division: from 1952 and security sector. Finmeccanica most of and North America to 1976 the racing team department was was established in 1948 as a holding were taking off for the Christmas be able to bring their riders — among company, itself a subholding holiday season — and said that them, , , Gary for the mechanical industry of “AgustaWestland” would be renamed Hocking and the unparalleled Giacomo the state‑owned Istituto per la the “Finmeccanica Helicopter Agostini — to the top step of the podium Ricostruzione Industriale (“Institute Division.” The AgustaWestland 3,000 times, with 279 Grand Prix wins and for Industrial Reconstruction”); website was taken down and the 76 World Championships. better known as IRI, it was dissolved name was not evident on the Meanwhile, activities at in 2000. The prefix Fin denotes a main page of the Finmeccanica Cascina Costa finally resumed in 1950 state‑controlled financial holding website. Eventually it was gleaned with the creation of a small series of company that gathered together that although the corporate . But it was two years later numerous smaller firms, with structure of AgustaWestland was that the company hit its turning point: Meccanica, Italian for “mechanics.” dissolved, the brand and the “AW” on Aug. 11, 1952, Finmeccanica has more than aircraft designation would remain. signed an agreement with the American 47,000 employees (about 37% (Speculation was that the AW139 company Corporation outside of Italy), and in 2014 recorded would be called the FH139 or F139, and undertook the challenge of the €14.6B ($16.4B) in revenues and etc.) future — to produce and sell . orders in the amount of €15.6B Despite this December On May 22, 1954, the first helicopter ($17.5B). The company is partially announcement, the transition built by the company — an Agusta‑Bell owned by the Italian government from a holding company had been 47G — took off from the Cascina Costa through the Ministry of Economy approved by its board of directors apron; only two years later, the 100th and Finance, which holds 30.2% of in September 2014, and discussed helicopter was delivered. Helicopter Finmeccanica’s shares. regularly over the last few months of production increased dramatically in The company reorganized on 2015. This past August, Finmeccanica the 1960s after signing agreements with Jan. 1, 2016 from a financial holding CEO Mauro Moretti noted that he US manufacturers Sikorsky, and group to a unified corporation, a had been streamlining the company Hughes Helicopters. significant change to its legal status since he took over May 2014. Defense Beginning in 1958, Agusta started in Italy. The individual companies News quoted him in August as saying, to design, develop and fly machines of in the holding group that were “I have got rid of 200 managers and its own: from the heavy A.101G to the 100% owned by Finmeccanica — chosen the 10 that I need.” smaller A.103, A.104, A.105 and A.106. AgustaWestland, Alenia , Another part of the “One The production remained limited to a few Selex ES, OTO Melara and WASS — Company” strategy is to rename prototypes, but these projects enabled were dissolved, while it retained Finmeccanica. Defense News also the company to develop a complete its parent company and corporate reported in October that Moretti and independent design capability. On headquarters functions for those stated that “Finmeccanica is an Aug. 4, 1971, a few months after Corrado companies that are joint ventures — obsolete name, we will truly change Agusta took over following the death ATR, MBDA, and Thales it,” and that the company will be of Domenico, Agusta made the first Alenia Space — as well as the given a name evoking “the sense flight of its A.109 Hirundo (Swallow) — a wholly‑owned US subsidiary, DRS of deep roots and a great future.” twin‑engine, four‑bladed helicopter with Technologies, Inc. Moretti been expected to announce a innovative features and performance — Finmeccanica now operates as a new “short and memorable” moniker which went into production in 1975. This single company with seven divisions: to take effect January 1, but it was helicopter was an immediate success, Helicopters, Aircraft, Aerostructures, decided to move ahead first with the as it sold hundreds of aircraft, and is Airborne & Space Systems, Land & legal corporate changes. still in production 40 years later. Agusta Naval Defence Electronics, Defence So, bottom line: While engineers Bruno Lovera and Paolo Systems and Security & Information AgustaWestland is no longer Bellavita led the development of the Systems. The company now operates the name of a company, it is still A.109. [AHS would later bestow some of exclusively in the aerospace, defence the name of the brand of the its highest honors upon the two. — Ed.] and security sector, as a result of the Finmeccanica Helicopter Division, In the meantime, the factory disposal of non‑core business units which itself will soon be renamed. continued to produce hundreds of other (such as its AnsaldoBreda railcar Got it? helicopters, such as the Bell‑licensed company) that it completed in 2015. Agusta‑Bell AB 204, 205, 212 and 412 Vol. 62, No. 2 33 The three-engine 13 t (28,400 lb) A.101G was AgustaWestland carries out the integration The AW101 (originally the EH101) was a joint Agusta’s first indigenous design. It first flew in and final assembly of the ICH-47F Chinook for development between Agusta and Westland, October 1964, but was dropped in 1971. the . and laid the groundwork for the eventual merger of the two companies.

Huey variants and the 206 JetRanger; Agusta had to buy out the financial Eurocopter, Eurocopter Deutschland and Sikorsky‑licensed SH‑3D/HH‑3F interests of his brothers’ heirs. For this, Stork Fokker Aerospace — for the 11 t Sea Kings, and the Boeing‑licensed the Agusta family sold 51% of the (24,250 lb) NH90 . CH‑47C Chinooks for domestic use, as company to government‑owned Agency well as international customers and for Financing of State’s Manufacturing Coming into Recent Times armed forces. Industry (EFIM), which aimed at A few years later, Agusta began to achieving an aerospace industry by In July 2000, Finmeccanica SpA develop a combat helicopter to meet acquiring various companies and placing and GKN Ltd. signed an agreement for the needs of the Italian Army. The A.129 them under its control in Cascina Costa. the merger of their helicopter industry Mangusta (Mongoose), the very first The new Gruppo Agusta was split into subsidiaries (respectively Agusta and to be designed and three divisions: the Aircraft Division, the GKN‑), creating built entirely in Europe, had its maiden Helicopter Division and the Aerospace AgustaWestland SpA. On May 26, flight on Sept. 11, 1983. Systems Division. 2004, GKN sold its entire stake, making With the A.109 and the A.129 In 1992, EFIM folded, passing AgustaWestland completely owned indigenous designs, Agusta fully entered Agusta to Finmeccanica, which at the by Finmeccanica. into the exclusive ranks of the world’s time was part of another state‑owned On Jan. 28, 2005, the US Navy leading helicopter companies. conglomerate, the ”Institute for Industrial announced that the US101 (dubbed After the acquisition in 1969 of Reconstruction” (IRI), but was in the the VH‑71 Kestrel), was selected as the the well‑known SIAI‑Marchetti aircraft process of being partially privatized. new US Presidential Helicopter, with factory, Agusta moved its medium‑ (Today, Finmeccanica is only about 30% teammates and Bell and heavy‑helicopter assembly line owned by the Italian government.) Helicopter. Sadly, the program was to Vergiate. During this time, cooperation began canceled in June 2009 due to ballooning In 1973, by which time the company with the British company Westland Ltd. costs. The nine completed aircraft were had more than 3,000 employees, the for the design of the 15 t (33,000 lb), eventually sold to Canada to support company needed cash to complete the three‑engined EH.101 (now AW101) their CH‑149 Cormorants, another AW101 development and production of the helicopter; and with French, German and variant. In 1998, AgustaWestland created A.109, at the same time that Corrado Dutch aviation industries — at the time, a new joint venture with Bell called the Bell/Agusta Aerospace Company (BAAC) for the development of the Agusta‑Bell AB‑139 helicopter and for the Bell‑Agusta BA609 . AgustaWestland bought out Bell’s involvement in what is now the AW139 in 2005, and became the lead company for the AW609 in 2011. Today and Tomorrow

In 2009, AgustaWestland bought 90% of PZL‑Świdnik, one of the biggest Polish helicopter/aircraft companies. With this acquisition, AW now has four This AW109SP GrandNew is one of the latest descendents of the Agusta A.109 that first flew production and assembly lines, in four in 1971.

34 VERTIFLITE March/April 2016 different countries: Vergiate, Italy; , UK; Philadelphia, USA; and Świdnik, Poland. At Vergiate, the AW109 Power, AW109 LUH, AW109 GrandNew, AW139, AW169, AW189 and ICH‑47F all come together and make their first ; in future, they will be joined by the AW109 Trekker. At the Yeovil plant is the final assembly line for the Super Lynx 300, AW159, AW101 and AW189 (SAR version only). In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the assembly line of the AW119Kx and AW139 today, and in the future will also include the AW169 and AW609. Also on the US assembly line is the customization (final completion) of the AW109 Power and GrandNew; they are assembled in Italy, but sold to the American market. Świdnik is charged with the assembly of the PZL SW‑4 Puszczyk and W‑2A Sokol. If the Polish Armed Forces decide to buy the new AW149, then this production line The family concept of AW169, AW139 and AW189 featured three very similar helicopters in will also be opened there. weight categories from 4 t (8,800 lb) to 9 t (19,800 lb). (AgustaWestland graphic) Most of the parts for all the helicopters are manufactured in Italy: at all the tools and instrumentation to fix (7 t), AW169 (4 t), and AW189 (9 t) have Cascina Costa, transmission and in the helicopter on a certain day so some 20% of parts commonality and integration; at Anagni, rotors heads and they will not make any mistakes. All the some 30% of similar maintenance work. fiber‑composites blades; at Brindisi, instrumentation, as well the engines, Flying procedures and cockpits are ; at Tessera, the NH90 ; are pre‑checked to be fixed without any also similar, which reduce training and and at Benevento, other high‑tech issues or lost time. training transition costs, and time. This structural components. The AW139/169 If the future of AgustaWestland is a real economical bonus for the large transmissions are produced at Yeovil seems bright, it is in part due to fleet operators that loan helicopters or and 25 AW139 fuselages per year by the new planning and construction flying hours to other customers. Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in philosophy it has brought to the recent Thanks to this design philosophy, Akinci, . commercially‑successful products. there are 150 AW169s on order and The assembly line in Vergiate is The AW139, with 950 aircraft ordered, almost the same number of AW189. planned over six stations for each model: was the first model that was responsible Another winning move is the “dual larger aircraft stay for 7 to 8 working of the recent success, but the company’s role” concept, i.e. helicopters with days in each position and then move on, true innovation was to pull off the “family civil certifications sold to government while the smallest ones (A.109 family) concept” that arose from the design — agencies that can be used for military or stay only six days each. Workers have creating three similar helicopters in paramilitary tasks — it represents 11% a pre‑assembled construction kit with different weight categories. The AW139 of the total AgustaWestland income.

This aircraft, the second AW609, was lost in The AW149 was derived from the AW139 as Vergiate integrates the British transmission a crash in Oct. 2015, but the third prototpye a larger, military version. Although it has not and Canadian engines with the fuselage, is being readied. The United Arab Emirates yet found a military customer, the civil version rotor hubs, blades, aviaonics, etc., from other recently announced it would buy the civil — the AW189 — has been a runaway success. AgustaWestland plants around Italy. tiltrotor.

Vol. 62, No. 2 35 The AW189 is considered a “super medium” aircraft. Like the AW139, The AW139 assembly line in Vergiate. The aircraft is also built in the US by its main gearbox benefits from an unsurpassed 50 minute “dry‑run” AgustaWestland Philadelphia and in Moscow by the company’s HeliVert capability. joint venture. The civil market represents one‑fourth future all‑weather requirements. This About the Authors of the global business and almost the will include a Full Ice Protection System same for military helicopters sales. A (FIPS) for operations in demanding icing aolo Rollino has been a third source of profit is the “customer and conditions — making the AW169 the photographer and aviation support training” that, with its simulators lightest helicopter ever built with such journalist since 1982. He has and flying school, is responsible for the a feature — advanced next‑generation P published reports, news articles and remaining 36% of the total AW revenues. satellite navigation capabilities, Synthetic photos in some of the most prestigious AgustaWestland is a fully‑integrated Vision System (SVS), Enhanced Vision magazines in the field. His website is company that works to be “synonymous System (EVS) and a Selex ES‑made Laser www.paolo‑rollino‑photography.com. with helicopters and vertical flight” Obstacle Avoidance and Monitoring Mauro Finati lives in the “Aviation around the world. Always on the (LOAM) system for enhanced safety and District” in northwest Italy. As a freelance technological frontier, AW invests in situational awareness. writer and photographer, he has been research, design and development — One final thing to mention is involved in for over approximately 11% of its revenues that in December 2015, Canadian 25 years. He has published numerous each year. Emergency Medical Services — after ten articles in leading Italian and other Development of new products is months of study and evaluation of the European aviation magazines. often made in partnership with the most Ornge EMS helicopters fleet compared to Together, Finati and Rollino demanding customers. An example of other medium‑sized helicopters — said publish www.aviobook.com. this is the recently announced order that, at the moment, AW139 is the most placed by the famous Swiss Air‑Rescue cost‑effective helicopter of this category Rega for three AW169 light intermediate in that specific configuration (EMS) and in twins and one GrandNew light that particular environment. twin‑engine helicopter, which will join the current fleet of a GrandNew and nine single‑pilot configured A109 SP Grand “Da Vinci” helicopters, a modification specifically developed for Rega by AgustaWestland. The new aircraft will perform emergency medical service ad missions (EMS/SAR) all over Switzerland, from the lowlands to the high mountains of the Alps. This order is of great importance, not only because this leading rescue service operator is expanding its AgustaWestland helicopter fleet, but because the AW169 ordered under the “Project Icebird” will set a new standard for EMS/ SAR rotorcraft in its weight category. The AW139 has been a runaway commerical success for AgustaWestland. The In fact, Rega AW169s will feature a company claims a 56% market share in the intermediate twin segment, with some jointly‑developed, highly‑customized 900 orders to date. EMS/SAR configuration to meet their

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