HMS Ocean conducts first-time operations of Wildcat helicopter

The UK Royal Navy's latest helicopter, the Wildcat, has landed on the HMS Ocean for the first time during Exercise Joint Warrior in the North Sea.
The attack helicopter was commissioned last year at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton in Somerset, and began its operational deployment at sea this year.
The new helicopters are scheduled to replace the Lynx helicopter.
naval-technology

UK retains Chinooks in Afghanistan

The UK has retained a number of Chinook transport helicopters in Afghanistan to support personnel assigned to the NATO training and advisory mission in the country.
Three RAF Chinooks previously assigned to operations in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan have been relocated to Kabul to support the servicemen that remain in the country following the wider withdrawal of UK forces last month.
The Chinooks become the last UK air assets to remain in Afghanistan following the announcement in mid-November that all UK forces had now left. While the RAF's Panavia Tornado GR.4 strike aircraft were withdrawn to much fanfare in mid-November, there has been no public announcement related to the other air assets in theatre, beyond the general announcements about UK forces having left their main area of operations in southern Afghanistan.
Other UK air assets stationed in Afghanistan comprised the RAF's General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a number of which have now been transferred to operations over Iraq, as well as the British Army's AgustaWestland-Boeing Apache AH.1 attack helicopters, AgustaWestland Lynx AH.9A support helicopters, and Thales Watchkeeper WK450 UAVs. All of these are now understood to either be back in the UK or in transit back to the UK.
In July, military sources disclosed that the upgraded Westland/Aerospatiale SA 330E Puma HC.2 medium-lift transport helicopter may be deployed to Kabul in 2015 to help support the NATO training mission in Afghanistan.
This MoD statement regarding the retention of some Chinooks in Kabul demonstrates that NATO and the West was never going to be able (or even willing) to make a clean break from Afghanistan with the cessation of combat operations at the end of 2014.
janes

Primer vuelo del tercer Lynx Wildcat/ Third Lynx Wildcat flies

El tercer y último prototipo del AgustaWestland AW159 Lynx Wildcat (TI3) ha realizado su primer vuelo de prueba desde las instalaciones de Yeovil en el Reino Unido.
Los prototipos TI1 y TI2 ya están realizando ensayos de aviónica y envolvente de vuelo. El TI3 realizará ensayos de misiones de búsqueda y navales.
El primer helicóptero de producción será entregado en 2011 y será plenamente operativo con el ejército británico en 2014 y con la Royal Navy en 2015.
key.aero
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The third and final AgustaWestland AW159 Lynx Wildcat test aircraft has successfully completed its maiden flight on November 19 at the company’s Yeovil facility in the UK.
The aircraft, designated TI3, will complete a 600 hour integrated flight test programme.
TI1 continues to perform air vehicle and flight envelope testing while TI2 is undertaking the flight testing of the aircraft’s core and mission avionics systems, the systems and software having already been developed and tested on AgustaWestland’s Full Systems Integration Rig (FSIR). TI3’s main task will include undertaking load survey trials and naval development, including ship helicopter operating limit trials.
The first production aircraft will be delivered at the end of 2011 with the aircraft becoming fully operational with the Army in 2014 and the Royal Navy in 2015.
key.aero

PRIMEROS LYNX MK9 MODERNIZADOS/FIRST LYNX UPDATED LYNX MK9 RE-ENTERS IN SERVICE

Los 4 primeros helicópteros Lynx Mk9 modernizados han re-entrado en servicio, 3 de ellos están siendo usados para entrenamiento, antes de su despliegue a Afganistan, en el 9 Regiment Army Air Corps en Dishforth, North Yorkshire
Las mejoras en los 12 primeros 12 Mk9, fueron ordenadas por el Ministerio de Defensa hace un año.
El Mk9 lleva un nuevo motor, con mas potencia para operar en el clima extremo de Afganistán, el mismo que dotará al Lynx Wildcat previsto en 2014, además de mejorar la capacidad de carga en 1 tonelada. Otras mejoras son nuevo cockpit digitalizado, y nueva estructura para acomodar al nuevo motor. El resto de helicópteros hasta doce se entregarán este año, procedentes de la factoría de AgustaWestland en Yeovil, Somerset.
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The first four upgraded Lynx Mk9 helicopters, which are to be sent to Afghanistan, have re-entered service, with three of the aircraft now being used for training, prior to deployment, at 9 Regiment Army Air Corps in Dishforth, North Yorkshire
The upgrades on initially twelve Mk9s were ordered by the MOD a year ago, with upgrades on the remaining ten aircraft likely to follow.
The Mk9a benefits from a considerably more powerful engine that enables operation in the challenging hot and high conditions of Afghanistan and the same engine is also being fitted to the new Lynx Wildcat which is expected to be delivered to the military from 2014.Lift capacity in the Mk9a is increased by 1 tonne over the earlier version.
Other improvements include an updated instrument panel and digital displays and a modified gearbox and rear structure to accommodate the new powerplant. The remainder of the twelve helicopters will be delivered over this next year from AgustaWestland's factory at Yeovil, Somerset.
Their role will include fire support, troop transport and casualty evacuation.