Leonardo Helicopters has scored a contract with the U.S. Navy for another three dozen TH-73A trainers, a deal worth more than $150 million.
The Department of Defense announced the contract on Dec. 17, exercising a $159.4 million option for production and delivery of 36 TH-73s, the third lot it has purchased under the Advanced Helicopter Training System program.
In a very brief statement issued Dec. 22, Leonardo said it “welcomes the announcement made by the U.S. Department of Defense.”
This lot III deal brings the total number of aircraft on order to 104. Leonardo is operating under an initial contract, let in 2020, worth up to $648 million for a total of 130 TH-73A trainers, which the Navy is calling the “Thrasher.”
In January 2020 Leonardo, through its AgustaWestland division based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was awarded $176 million for the production and delivery of an initial 32 helicopters, along with spares, support, dedicated equipment, and specific pilot and maintenance training services. In November 2020, a second lot of 36 aircraft was ordered through a $171 million contract modification.
The Navy chose Leonardo’s single-engine TH-119, based on the commercial AW119, over the Airbus H135 — conspicuously a twin-engine helicopter in the competition to replace a single-engine aircraft — and Bell’s 407GXi to replace the aging TH-57 Sea Rangers on which all Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard rotorcraft pilots are trained.
Helicopter deliveries began in June 2021 and continue through calendar year 2024. Despite a 100-day protest by Airbus of the initial contract award and a global pandemic that disrupted supply chains since day one, Leonardo Helicopters was able to have the first TH-73 in the Navy’s hands in just 18 months from contract award.
