The Ministry of Defence has confirmed an upgraded partnership with Leonardo that will see the AW149 selected under the New Medium Helicopter programme and Yeovil positioned as a future centre of excellence for autonomous rotary wing systems.
The agreement forms part of what the government calls a wider reset of its industrial relationships, aligned with the Strategic Defence Review and the Defence Industrial Strategy.
According to a statement, “the new deal secured by the Government with Leonardo will provide the UK Armed Forces with 23 new medium-lift helicopters (NMH) – which could work alongside uncrewed aircraft – and paves the path for future military international orders to be built in the UK, with an increased workshare for the UK above 40%. There are around 20 countries with requirements for new medium-lift helicopters. Together with Leonardo’s other helicopters, international orders for NMH could generate over £15 billion in exports over the next 10 years.”
The AW149 will fulfil the New Medium Helicopter requirement, replacing multiple legacy platforms with a single aircraft type capable of operating across the full spectrum of defence tasks. The platform is designed to deliver troop transport, support to special operations, and broader operational roles, while also contributing to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions.
The consolidation of roles into one aircraft type is intended to streamline the rotary wing fleet, improving efficiency and operational flexibility while reducing the complexity associated with sustaining three separate aircraft types.
The partnership also has a significant industrial dimension. The agreement, say the MOD, opens a pathway for future export orders of the AW149 to be built in the UK, expanding domestic workshare and strengthening the long-term viability of the Yeovil site. The programme has the potential to sustain up to 3,900 jobs, representing an increase of around 20 per cent, with Leonardo stating that more than 3,300 roles in Yeovil and 12,000 across the wider UK supply chain will be supported.
Nigel Colman, Managing Director of Helicopters UK at Leonardo, said:
“We welcome the decision to award the New Medium Helicopter contract to supply medium lift helicopters to the Ministry of Defence, as well as the continued investment in Proteus – our autonomous rotary wing uncrewed air system in development with the Royal Navy.
“Leonardo is committed to providing the UK Armed Forces with a world-class medium lift helicopter based on our leading AW149 platform that will serve our military personnel for many years to come.
“The Government’s procurement of the AW149, as well as the continued investment in autonomy, will support more than 3,300 jobs in Yeovil, the Home of British Helicopters, as well as 12,000 across the UK supply chain.”
Defence Secretary John Healey MP said:
“This defence investment works for Britain on every level. It strengthens our Armed Forces, secures thousands of skilled British jobs, and sets up big export opportunities. It is a major vote of confidence in British industry, British workers and British innovation. This Government’s broad deal makes Yeovil the proud home of Leonardo’s global military helicopter production, building world-class helicopters for our forces and allies around the world for many years to come. It backs British jobs and security today, and makes the UK a pace-setter in uncrewed, technology and innovation for tomorrow.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said:
“In an uncertain world we are backing Britain’s world‑class defence sector to both keep Britain safe and drive economic growth. This historic partnership not only supports British jobs and security today, but positions the UK and its allies at the forefront of the next generation of defence and autonomous systems tomorrow.”
An order. There’s an order. Order, order! I know it was announced a couple of days ago, but it’s good to see something in the headlines no matter how truncated the numbers.
I’m not sure about the exports though. Wouldn’t we expect Leonardo to move production for foreign sales out of the UK as soon as they can?
Isn’t the AW149 already being manufactured in Poland underlicence already so would possibly need to compete with that?
(It’s only a dream)
£1 bn for 23 AW149 helicopters – so £44m each for a modest helicopter that will have predominantly Italian manufactured content and American (GE) manufactured engines. There seems to be a c.£20M premium each from having these assembled at Yeovil. A huge ouch.
For comparison, in 2023 Australia paid almost exactly the same amount for 40 UH-60M Black Hawks, but that also included 5 years of equipment and support.
“Buy British” is always politically attractive, but using the defence budget to pay for industrial subsidies is ruinous for the armed forces.
I thought the original requirement was for 44 helicopters so how can we only be getting 23?
It’s hard to believe what the hell is going on in the UK
How many do we really need?
15 billion in exports? . 20% extra jobs to build 23 small helo’s??? New relationship with Leonardo??
Even Trump would blush selling these tall tales.
What’s that i hear? Leonardo’s top brass laffing all the way to the bank?
The UK is truly fukked with these clowns in charge.
The only comparative I can think of is the US Army, which gives rotary a bigger place in their CONOPS. A US Division has 50 front-line Black Hawks, 3 ‘companies’ of 10, able to transport an nfantry company in one lift, plus 4 C2 and 4 EW in the HQ company and 12 in a medevac company. 50 frontline means about 97 in total, allowing for those in maintenance, war replacements, OCU etc.
We have two divisions on paper, so if equipped to US standards, would need 194 in total.
Plus probably 30 for the RAF’s medium lift utility and CSAR roles.
So our 23 seems rather on the inadequate side!
£44m for a medium helicopter is a fantastically high figure. The army was originally looking for a cost of under £25m, hence the original talk of a buy of 44.
I missed out the word ‘each’: each of the 3 Black Hawk companies can transport an infantry company in a single lift, so a US Division can move 3 companies in one go, generally in a local air assault role. Of course they can also transport a lot of supplies etc forward with these kind of rotary numbers.