Leonardo Wins UK Contract for New Medium Helicopter

Leonardo has emerged as the successful bidder for the UK’s long-running New Medium Helicopter (NMH) program, with the airframer selected to supply the UK Armed Forces with 23 AW149 helicopters. The selection, made just hours before Leonardo’s current tender was due to expire, follows a protracted process fraught with program delays and revisions to requirements.

According to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), the £1 billion ($1.3 billion) award will also safeguard more than 3,000 jobs at Leonardo’s Yeovil facility in Somerset. This southwest England site marks the UK’s last sovereign helicopter manufacturer, which was at risk of closure should no contract materialize.

“The deal cements the site’s role of serving the national and export market with advanced military rotorcraft, with significant potential for the international market in the future—combining AW149 and other types for export,” explained Leonardo. The MoD added that the NMH contract “paves the way for future military international orders to be built in the UK with an increased workshare for the UK above 40%.”

In 2021, the UK government set out the NMH requirement for up to 44 helicopters to replace an aging fleet of Airbus Helicopters Puma HC2s and AS365 Dauphins. This was revised downwards to 35 units in 2023. Although Lockheed Martin and Airbus Helicopters had initially intended to field their respective Black Hawk and H175 aircraft for contention, both withdrew, with Leonardo the only application submitted by the Aug. 30, 2024, deadline.

The MoD has also confirmed that it will invest further in Leonardo’s Proteus, described by its manufacturer as “the UK’s first autonomous full-size helicopter.” Leonardo was awarded a four-year, £60 million contract to develop the AW09-derived platform with the Royal Navy. The scale of future funding has not been publicly announced.