British Army Receives First Four Lynx Mk9A Helicopters

The British Army has received the first four upgraded Lynx mk9A helicopters from AgustaWestland.

The British Army Air Corps will use three aircraft for conversion to type and conversion to role training at its Dishforth base in Yorkshire.

All the four helicopters will be deployed to Afghanistan in support of British and coalition forces in 2010.

The Lynx mk9A helicopters successfully completed the qualification test programme, which proved that the aircraft can maximise the improved performance provided by the LHTEC CTS800 engines.

In addition, AgustaWestland has also completed maintainer and aircrew training programmes at its Yeovil facility, delivered new integrated electronic technical publications, spares packages and laptop-based training emulations.

The British Army will receive three further aircraft by April 2010, followed by the final batch of five aircraft by September 2010.