According to the People's Army Newspaper, Vietnam has completed negotiations and signed a contract to purchase modern AW-189 transport helicopters from AgustaWestland.
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| In an article published on July 30 titled "Leading in helicopter supply" about the achievements of the Vietnam Helicopter Corporation - Ministry of National Defense, the People's Army newspaper reported that we have recently completed negotiations to sign a contract to purchase additional AW-189 medium-range aircraft. Previously, the website of the Southern Helicopter Company (a southern branch of the Vietnam Helicopter Corporation) posted information that Vietnam purchased one AW-189, expected to be delivered at the end of 2015. |
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| The AW-189 is a medium-range transport helicopter manufactured by AgustaWestland - the world's leading civil-military helicopter manufacturer from Italy since 2011. That means the AW-189 transport helicopter was born 4 years ago, it is a very new and modern model in the world. |
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| The AW-189 helicopter model was first introduced at the Paris Air Show in 2011, and officially flew for the first time on December 21, 2011. The AW-189 received certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in February 2014 and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in March 2015. |
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| The AW-189 is considered a variant for civil purposes of the military model AW-149, but is built on the basis of an extended airframe of the AW-139 generation. AgustaWestland designed the AW-189 to target customers who want a helicopter to support maritime patrol, search and rescue and passenger transport operations. |
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| The AW-189 multi-purpose helicopter is 17.6m long, 5.06m high, and has a useful weight of 8.3 tons. |
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| The plane can carry up to 19 people with luxurious and convenient seating arrangements. |
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| Close-up of the AW-189 helicopter cabin model that Vietnam purchased. It can be seen that they are very simple and modern with 4 large liquid crystal screens displaying flight technical parameters. |
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| The AW-189 is equipped with two CT7-2E1 turbine engines with a capacity of 2,000 horsepower each, combined with a 5-blade main rotor and a 4-blade tail rotor. The aircraft can reach a cruising speed of 267-278 km/h, a range of 307-907 km with a fuel capacity of 2,063 liters. |
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| Although it has just been launched, AgustaWestland has received orders for 150 aircraft from 10 aviation companies around the world. And Vietnam will be the 11th customer in the world, the second in Southeast Asia (after Malaysia) to buy this state-of-the-art helicopter to equip the Vietnam Helicopter Corporation to serve tourism services, oil and gas flights, serve Party and State delegations and, when necessary, can perform defense tasks. |
According to QĐND
