Article Posted on : - May 25, 2010

The AgustaWestland AW139.

ROME (BNS): AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, has delivered its AW139 medium twin helicopter to the Italian Coast Guard during an official ceremony held at AgustaWestland�s Vergiate plant in Italy.

The AW139 will perform a range of missions including maritime patrol, search and rescue (SAR) and emergency medical services.

"We are delighted to add the Italian Coast Guard to the long list of coast guard and SAR operators worldwide. The AW139 has rapidly become the new generation medium twin of choice for such missions. It will allow the Italian Coast Guard to continue to play a key role in monitoring, protecting and assisting people around Italy�s shores," said Alessandro Parrini, Senior Vice President Italian Government Business Unit, as quoted in the AgustaWestland news release.

The AW139 is equipped with a wide range of SAR equipment including an external rescue hoist, cargo hook, wire strike protection system, search/weather radar, FLIR/LLTV system, NVG compatible cockpit, night sun searchlight, external loudspeaker system, emergency floatation system and external life rafts.