Leonardo, New Zealand Industry Sign MoU to Offer AW159 Helicopter to NZ Defense Force

Leonardo has presented its AW159 Wildcat helicopter as a potential solution for the New Zealand Defense Force's (NZDF) Maritime Helicopter Replacement (MHR) program.

As part of this proposal, Leonardo intends to establish a Wildcat Support Centre (NZ) at the RNZAF base in Auckland, pending successful participation in the MHR program.

Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed with several local partners, including Beca Applied Technologies, Core Aviation, Marops, Redfort Logistics Group, and United Machinists. These agreements outline technical support, operations, maintenance, and job creation strategies, aligning with Leonardo's offer for the MHR program with the AW159 multi-role helicopter.

The twin-engine multi-role AW159 is able to conduct missions ranging from constabulary to high-end warfighting where it has the capability to autonomously detect, identify and attack targets on land and at sea, including submarine threats. The platform is fitted with Leonardo Seaspray multi-mode electronically-scanning (E-scan) radar, and integrated electronic warfare Defensive Aids Suite, and is fully network-enabled.