Leonardo has sold a pair of new AW139 intermediate twin helicopters to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The helicopters will be delivered in 2024 and be used to conduct radiation sweeps at high-profile events, such as the Super Bowl, and will also conduct disaster relief missions.
The NNSA has two bases, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and Henderson Airport near Las Vegas. Its helicopters, which are equipped with a variety of sensors, aid the Federal Emergency Management Agency by performing search-and-rescue and disaster topography missions.
The seven-tonne AW139 has been ordered by more than 290 operators in 70 countries. More than 1,250 have been sold and the in-service fleet has accumulated more than three million flight hours since first delivery in 2004. The model is used for search and rescue, air ambulance services, law enforcement, firefighting, disaster relief, offshore energy support, and defense. More than 30 percent of the fleet has been assembled at Leonardo’s Philadelphia plant, which also manufactures the Boeing MH-139 variant for the U.S. Air Force.