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| Westland Lynx |
Militarymedia.net | Launched as part of the 1967 Anglo-French helicopter agreement, the Lynx design is entirely Westland in origin, but production of this type is split on a 70/30 ratio between the UK's GKN Westland and France's Eurocopter. At the time of its introduction it was arguably the most capable and versatile helicopter in its class.
All versions of the Lynx have advanced digital flight controls plus all-weather avionics. The four-bladed semi-rigid main rotor provides a level of agility unmatched by any other helicopter of its generation.
The Lynx prototype first flew in 1971 and its production was dominated for use by the British armed forces. The type entered service in 1977 as the Lynx AH.Mk 1 battlefield helicopter for the British Army and Royal Marines. About 103 examples were upgraded to the Lynx AH.Mk 7 standard and these remain the Army Air Corps' primary anti-armor type, complementing 11 operational squadrons.
The upgraded Lynx AH.Mk 9 includes a nose-wheel undercarriage and a state-of-the-art British experimental program main rotor blade. The procurement consists of eight converted AH.Mk 7 and 16 new buildings.
The other major carriers are the Royal Navy; The Lynx is the ultimate ship-based helicopter and fulfills anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, search and rescue, over the horizon targeting nuclear attack submarines and communications tasks.
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| Westland Lynx |
From 1994 the Royal Navy began receiving the Lynx HMA.Mk 8. A total of 38 previous versions were upgraded to this standard. The export equivalent version was known as the Super Lynx and orders for the manufacture of the new helicopter came from Portugal, Brazil, South Korea. The last two customers, plus Denmark, also had previous versions of Lynx upgraded to the Super Lynx standard. Operators of the earlier naval Lynx variant consisted of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway and Pakistan. Marineflieger (German Navy) has overhauled the fuselage and rotor system of the older 17 Lynx Mk 88 for service after 2010, and has also added forward-looking infra-red and GPS.
In 2000 Agusta from Italy and Westland Helicopters from England merged and formed AgustaWestland. Since then all new helicopters have been marketed under the AgustaWestland brand. The AW159 is a further development of the Westland Super Lynx. Previously this helicopter was called the Lynx Wildcat. This helicopter made its first flight in 2009. There are utility, reconnaissance and anti-surface warfare versions of this multi-role helicopter. In 2014 the AgustaWestland AW159 was adopted by the British Army and Royal Navy as the Wildcat.
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| Westland Lynx |
