Dubai: The Joint Aviation Command (JAC) of the UAE Armed Forces signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with AgustaWestland to buy three AW609 TiltRotor aircraft, and said that it will take options for three additional aircraft, at the Dubai Airshow 2015 on Tuesday.
The JAC will take delivery of the first three aircraft starting from 2019.
The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Saeed Ali Al Ali, brigadier pilot at the UAE Armed Forces, said that the JAC is still “negotiating and the final amount [of the deal] has not been decided yet.”
Al Ali said that the aircraft will be used for search and rescue missions.
“These aircraft give a longer capacity of staying in the air and better capability of picking up the injured,” he told reporters at a press conference at the show.
The AW609, with twice the speed and range of a helicopter, can reduce the time it takes to reach a rescue scene, the JAC said in a statement.
The AW609 can fly at a speed of up to 275 kt and at altitudes of up to 25,000 feet, according to AgustaWestland’s website.
It has fly-by-wire technology, converting the movements of the flight controls of the cockpit to electrical signals, which helps improve flight safety.
AgustaWestland, an Anglo-Italian manufacturer of helicopters, is a subsidiary of Italy’s Finmeccanica.
The JAC currently operates 11 AW139 helicopters for a number of missions, including search and rescue missions.
It said in a statement that it will expand its operational capabilities leveraging on the 275-knot maximum speed and 750-nm range of the AW609 TiltRotor.
The UAE Armed Forces signed a Dh2.3 billion contract with the Abu Dhabi-based Advanced Military Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Center (Ammroc), to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for the JAC of the army at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Idex) in Abu Dhabi earlier this year.
