Today, AgustaWestland is remembered for having produced some of the best and most versatile helicopters to have ever flown, including the AW101, AW109 and AW139 – all of which have been used in many different roles by hundreds of operators!
Whilst AgustaWestland is technically still around today, instead operating as Leonardo’s helicopter division, the AgustaWestland name still lives on through the history and helicopters this giant produced…
Pre-AgustaWestland: Agusta
Having built and flown his first aircraft in 1907, aviation enthusiast and European nobleman, Count Giovanni Agusta, would spend the 1910’s and 1920’s raising enough money to found his own aircraft manufacturer.
Founded in 1923, the count would name his new aircraft manufacturing company after himself, calling it Costruzioni Aeronautiche Giovanni Agusta S.A., or Agusta for short.
Initially producing a series of fixed wing biplanes and later monoplanes, the 1950’s would see Agusta begin building Bell 47s under license (as Bell lacked the capability to fulfill European orders for the helicopter at the time).
As the 1950’s and 1960’s progressed, Agusta would build many more Bell helicopters under license, including the Bell 204, 205 and 206.
Soon becoming one of the largest helicopter manufacturers in Europe, Agusta would strike deals with Sikorsky, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas to produce their aircraft under license too, particularly the AS-61 (Agusta-built Sikorsky SH-3 Sea Kings).
Using the money and expertise the company gained from producing these helicopters under license, Agusta would develop several of its own civil and military helicopters over the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s.
By 1980, Agusta was the largest helicopter manufacturer in southern Europe!
Pre-AgustaWestland: Westland Helicopters
Westland Helicopters, on the other hand, can trace its origins back to engine manufacturer Petters Limited.
Having gotten into the aircraft manufacturing industry several years prior, 1935 would see Petters split into several different companies. Still centrally owned by Petters, the aircraft manufacturing arm would be called Westland Aircraft.
Initially producing fixed-wing aircraft (in particular the Lysander liaison aircraft and the Whirlwind and Welkin bombers) the company would soon begin building Sikorsky helicopters under license, beginning in the late 1940’s.
Producing helicopters like the Westland Dragonfly (Sikorsky S-51), Westland Widgeon (an improved Dragonfly), the Westland Whirlwind (Sikorsky S-55) and the Westland Wessex (a re-engined Sikorsky S-58), Westland would soon become Britain’s largest helicopter manufacturer.
In the early 1960’s, the British government would nationalize the British aircraft manufacturing industry, merging the helicopter divisions of Fairey, Bristol and Saunders-Roe into Westland, officially forming Westland Helicopters.
Continuing to build Sikorsky helicopters under license to fulfill the British military’s orders, Westland would develop several of its own designs, including the Wasp, Scout and Westminster (although the latter would be unsuccessful).
By the 1980’s, Westland Helicopters was the largest (and only) helicopter manufacturer in Britain.
Under Margaret Thatcher’s government, Westland was privatized, being sold to Sikorsky and Fiat (although not without causing controversy first), before becoming wholly owned by British manufacturing conglomerate, GKN.
Merger
As the largest helicopter manufacturers in their respective countries, both Agusta and Westland had the capability to launch helicopters that would sell well in their home country. But there was only one problem: They would flop internationally.
You see, whilst their helicopters were good for the needs of their country’s military, foreign manufacturers like Sikorsky could produce superior helicopters at a fraction of the price.
Realizing this, Agusta and Westland Helicopters chose to partner together to create a utility helicopter that would sell well both in Italy and the UK, as well as the rest of the world. This helicopter would become the EH101 Merlin (later AW101).
With the EH101 proving to be quite successful both domestically and internationally, co-operation between the two companies strengthen, resulting in both companies (alongside Fokker and CASA) working on the A129 light attack helicopter together.
Eventually proving to be incredibly successful, rumors began to spread that the parent companies of both Agusta and Westland (Finmeccanica and GKN) were in talks for a merger, which were soon made public in March 1989.
Both companies would soon come to an arrangement in July 2000. As a part of this arrangement, both Finmeccanica and GKN would own 50% of the new company, called AgustaWestland, which officially merged that month.
Due to the disparity in profit levels between Agusta and Westland, both firms agreed that Finmeccanica would pay GKN monthly top-up fees, as Westland was a much larger company than Agusta was.
Consolidation & Expansion
Two months prior to the Agusta-Westland merger, on May 31 2000, the CH-149 Cormorant – a search and rescue variant of the EH101 designed for the Royal Canadian Air Force – would first take flight, before being delivered by AgustaWestland.
Having begun development of the AW139 (originally Agusta-Bell AB139 before Bell withdrew from the project) prior to the Agusta-Westland merger, the prototype had been finished a few months after the merger was finalized.
First flying on February 3 2001, the AW139 would soon complete its flight testing before being introduced in early 2003, bringing the newly formed company a large influx of much-needed capital.
Despite the introduction of two new aircraft, 2002 would see the company close its maintenance and customer support factory in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, to focus the company’s British holdings around its Yeovil plant, cutting 950 jobs in the process.
Beyond partnering with Agusta to produce the AW139, Bell and Agusta (and later AgustaWestland) partnered to make the AB609 (now AW609) tiltrotor.
The AW609 would first fly on March 6 2003, marking the first flight of a purpose-built civilian tiltrotor, gathering the company a lot of media coverage.
To help fund its takeover of Japan’s Tochigi Fuji Sangyo K.K conglomerate, GKN announced that it was selling its stake in AgustaWestland to Finmeccania in May 2004, in a deal worth £1.06 billion (€1.59 billion at the time).
The sale would be completed in October 2004, after the British government had approved the sale – as Finmeccanica is a foreign company, owned by a foreign government which may have differing interests than the British government.
Involvement With NHIndustries
In 1985, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK joined together to create a helicopter consortium that could rival the likes of Sikorsky, Bell and Boeing in the United States.
Although the UK would leave in 1987, the major helicopter manufacturers of the remaining countries, including Italy’s Agusta, would band together to form NHIndustries, with all countries collaborating on what would become the NH90.
For efficiency reasons, each of the four companies involved in the consortium would produce certain parts for the NH90. For Agusta, this was parts like the rear fuselage, main gearbox, power plant, hydraulic system and NFH mission systems.
These parts would be produced by Agusta in their Italian factories, before being shipped off to Cascina Costa, Italy or Marignane, France and/or Donauwörth, Germany for final assembly (other final assembly points have since been added).
Owning 32% of the entire consortium, Agusta’s share in NHIndustries would be transferred to AgustaWestland following their merger, thus giving Westland Helicopters (who would’ve Britain’s manufacturer of choice) a stake in the consortium they left 13 years prior.
As a result, AgustaWestland have not only inherited Agusta’s stake in NHIndustries, but also Agusta’s old obligations, continuing to produce parts for the NH90, and own one of the final assembly points, well into the 21st century.
American And Turkish Expansion
On December 18 2003, the US Marine Corps formally launched the VXX program, which aimed to find a helicopter that could replace the ageing VH-3Ds (Sikorsky SH-3 Sea Kings) that currently serve as Marine One – the US President’s official helicopter.
To begin with, only Sikorsky and Lockheed were interested in submitting a design.
Sikorsky would submit the VH-92, a Sikorsky S-92 with all the necessary luxury and military features added onto it. Lockheed, however, didn’t have a design it could submit, so turned to other helicopter manufacturers for help.
Here, they partnered with AgustaWestland to produce a variant of their famed AW101, called the VH-71 Kestrel. To aid in the design process, the company would open offices in Philadelphia in 2005.
Flying for the first time on July 3 2007, the VH-71 would actually win the contract, much to Sikorsky’s anger.
Due to deliver the first VH-71s in 2010, the VXX program would be cancelled in 2009 by President Barack Obama due to cost overruns.
In March 2007, Turkish Aircraft Industries (TAI) would partner with AgustaWestland to produce an updated variant of Agusta’s famed A129 attack helicopter for the Turkish Army, to replace their ageing A129s.
This helicopter, known as the T-129 ATAK, would be partly built in AgustaWestland’s Verbania factory, and mostly built in one of TAI’s many factories across Turkey.
First flying on September 28 2009 at AgustaWestland’s Verbania factory, the T-129 would undergo various design alterations before entering service in 2014. As a partner in the program, the company still provides maintenance and spare parts for the T-129.
Entrance to The Russian Market
Over the course of the mid-2000’s, a number of companies and billionaires from the former USSR, especially those involved in Russia’s lucrative oil and mining industries, would begin placing orders for AgustaWestland AW139s.
Seeing this demand grow year-on-year with no signs of slowing down (mostly thanks to the AW139’s reputation as being a luxurious, yet cheap and reliable helicopter), the company began for outside help.
In June 2008, AgustaWestland would strike a deal with Russian Helicopters at the Farnborough Airshow, to form a joint venture company that would produce AW139s in Russia, that could serve the CIS countries in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Officially forming CJSC HeliVert (more commonly known as just HeliVert) in the summer of 2011, the company would be made up of Russian Helicopters employees who were trained by AgustaWestland.
As a part of this deal, the AgustaWestland would also finance the construction of a HeliVert assembly facility in the town of Tomilino, just outside of Moscow. All in all, this facility would cost the company a cool $50 million!
Acquisition of PZL-Åšwidnik
Starting in 1996, Polish helicopter manufacturer PZL-Åšwidnik would act as a subcontractor for AgustaWestland, manufacturing the fuselages for the AW109, before delivering them to one of several final assembly points.
In 2006, PZL-Åšwidnik would produce and deliver the 500th fuselage for the AW109, marking not only a significant milestone for the AW109, but also the 10-year anniversary since PZL-Åšwidnik partnered with AgustaWestland.
As Poland’s largest helicopter manufacturer, the company originally hoped to partner with PZL-Åšwidnik to produce AW139s for the Eastern European market.
However, PZL lacked the capacity to do this, thus forcing the company to strike a deal with Russian Helicopters instead.
Despite this, AgustaWestland had considered becoming a stakeholder in the company since the early 2000’s. Using the money the company earned from the HeliVert deal, they would approach PZL looking to buy them in mid-2009.
Finalizing the deal in early 2010, AgustaWestland acquired a 100% stake in PZL, thus giving it two points of entry into the Eastern European market: PZL-Åšwidnik in Poland and HeliVert in Russia.
Having acquired PZL, the company would fund further development of PZL’s famed PZL SW-4 helicopter, known for being one of the most popular helicopters due to its versatility, low price and reliability.
In keeping with this, AgustaWestland would launch the AW009, a purpose-designed civilian variant of the SW-4 with an all-glass cockpit, better vibration absorbers, an upgraded engine as well as improvements to the hydraulic and control systems.
Indian Helicopter Bribery Scandal
In February 2010, the Indian Air Force signed a deal with AgustaWestland for 12 AW101 helicopters, which were intended to be used as executive transports for both the President and Prime Minister of India, as well as other VVIPs.
Worth a reported €560 million (roughly £498.4 million or $767.2 million at the time), the deal was the largest and most lucrative the company had ever struck.
As a reward, then-CEO of AgustaWestland, Giuseppe Orsi, was promoted to CEO of Finmeccanica.
Whilst everybody was celebrating what a great deal they’d just struck with the Indian Air Force, Italian authorities soon began investigating Orsi, under accusations of bribing Indian politicians and air force officials for the AW101 contract.
Eventually having proof that Orsi had bribed Indian politicians and air force officials to the tune of ₹2.5 billion ($35 million USD or roughly €34.5 million), Italian authorities would arrest Orsi in his home on February 12 2013.
As the head of a partly government-owned company (the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance owned roughly 30% of Finmeccanica at the time), Orsi’s arrest naturally made not just national news, but also international news too!
Reacting to this, the Indian government would order a probe into exactly who had been bribed, tasking the CBI (the Indian equivalent of the FBI) with investigating this.
Whilst the CBI probe was still ongoing, the Indian Air Force would cancel the contract under the premise that the company had “broken its pre-contract integrity agreement” with the country.
By the end of the probe, several high-ranking Indian Air Force officials and politicians had been arrested and given prison sentences by Indian authorities, as had Giuseppe Orsi and his associates in Italy.
Continued Expansion
Although the Indian Bribery Scandal (otherwise called “Choppergate” by the media at the time) was devastating for the AgustaWestland brand, the company aimed to release more helicopters so that people would forget the Choppergate fiasco.
Surprisingly, this strategy actually worked – against all odds!
On November 12 2009, the company would first fly the AW159 Wildcat – a heavily improved Westland Super Lynx – which was soon put into mass-production, entering service with the British Army and Royal Navy in 2014.
AgustaWestland would make headlines in June 2011, when it designed and produced an aircraft with a working prototype in less than a year, with the design teams literally working 24/7 for the first six months (until the prototype was finished).
Beyond this, the “Project Zero” as it was called, was also the first all-electric tiltrotor aircraft to complete flight testing. Although only a technology demonstrator, several aspects of the Zero’s design have been implemented on other AW aircraft currently under development.
December 21 2011 would mark the first flight of the AW189, which would act as the larger alternative to the company’s famed AW139 helicopter. Indeed, the AW189 would become one of the most popular medium helicopters shortly after its introduction in February 2014.
Building on this momentum, AgustaWestland would first fly its AW169 (a civil and military utility helicopter) on May 10 2012, before its own introduction in 2015, where it has become quite popular with both military and civil operators.
The introduction of these aircraft would soon erase the damage of Choppergate, as well as make AgustaWestland one of the two largest helicopter manufacturers in Europe – behind only Eurocopter/Airbus Helicopters.
Merger Into Leonardo
As with many other large, multinational corporations, Finmeccanica had diversified into several different industries, having several different subsidiaries with varying degrees of autonomy.
Whilst this had helped Finmeccanica in the past, they began to realize that it was hurting their overall profits. Hoping to fix this, Finmeccanica took steps to become a single integrated entity in January 2016.
Essentially, this meant that all of Finmeccanica’s subsidiaries, including AgustaWestland, were absorbed by Finmeccanica, ceasing to operate as independent companies, but rather divisions of Finmeccanica.
As a part of this corporate reorganization, Finmeccanica would also officially change its name to Leonardo (named in honor of famed Italian painter, engineer and aircraft designer, Leonardo da Vinci!) in March 2016.
Due to this, AgustaWestland went from being a separate company to a division of Finmeccanica/Leonardo, where it became the helicopter division of Leonardo, informally referred to as Leonardo Helicopters by employees.
Whilst the names of most of the company’s pre-existing helicopters (eg. AW109, AW139, AW169 etc.) would be unaffected by the merger, the names of the helicopters that AgustaWestland was designing (and had not produced a prototype for) were affected.
Here, this mostly applied to the AgustaWestland AW249 attack helicopter (designed to replace the Agusta A129) which was renamed as the Leonardo AW249, keeping its famed “AW” designation!
Legacy
Despite the fact that AgustaWestland as we know it hasn’t existed for several years now, the legacy of the company has not been forgotten. Indeed, you can still see it today if you know where to look!
Aviation Industry
The merger between Agusta and Westland Helicopters in 2000 essentially reinvigorated the helicopter industry in Europe.
Whilst Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) had come into existence in the 1990’s, it was really only present in France, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany, whilst not having that large of an international presence.
To compete with the newly formed AgustaWestland, Eurocopter had to develop helicopters that were better than their AgustaWestland competitors, or they risked countries like Germany turning to AgustaWestland rather than Eurocopter.
Beyond shaking up the industry in Europe, AgustaWestland also shook up the North American industry, providing the first major European competition to Sikorsky and Boeing in a long time.
It was because of this added competition, that both European and North American-based helicopter manufacturers have produced so many new helicopters over the last 20 years or so.
They either released these new helicopters, or went out of business due to a lack of competitiveness.
Leonardo
Today, what was previously AgustaWestland is the largest and most profitable division of Leonardo, bringing in a large portion of Leonardo’s revenue. It is also by far the most stable in terms of income too.
Since January 2018, CEO Alessandro Profumo has embarked on a growth plan, that aims to increase the revenue (and more importantly profit) of each of his company’s divisions.
And Leonardo’s helicopter division plays a huge role in this, with it already surpassing its targets by miles, even when other divisions have failed or only just managed to meet theirs.
To that end, the money Leonardo Helicopters is bringing in, is being invested heavily into Leonardo’s less successful divisions, in the hopes that the added investment will pay dividends in the long-run, becoming as large, if not larger, than Leonardo Helicopters!
Do you remember AgustaWestland? What do you think of them? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of joolsgrif via Flickr.
Interesting part of history, so what are the stock tickers for these companies?
AgustaWestland was never listed on the stock market. However, it’s parent company Finmeccanica (now Leonardo) is, with the stock ticker of BIT: LDO.
As we’re not an investing-related site, I would highly recommend you do research on the company to ensure that it’s a good investment for you.