AgustaWestland was an Anglo-Italian
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
design and manufacturing company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of
Finmeccanica
Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the eighth ...
(now known as Leonardo). It was formed in July 2000 as an Anglo-Italian
multinational company
A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...
, when Finmeccanica and
GKN merged their respective helicopter subsidiaries (
Agusta and
Westland Helicopters
Westland Helicopters was a British aircraft manufacturer. Originally Westland Aircraft, the company focused on helicopters after the Second World War. It was amalgamated with several other British firms in 1960 and 1961.
In 2000, it merged ...
) to form AgustaWestland, with each holding a 50% share. Finmeccanica acquired GKN's stake in AgustaWestland in 2004.
In 2016, AgustaWestland was merged into
Leonardo S.p.A. (formerly Finmeccanica), where it became the company's helicopters division under the Leonardo Helicopters brand. "AgustaWestland" still exists as a subsidiary of Leonardo but the AgustaWestland
public brand is no longer promoted.
History
The collaboration between Agusta and Westland dates back to 1981, when the two companies established the European Helicopter Industries
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
with the aim of developing a new medium-size
utility helicopter
A utility helicopter is a multi-purpose helicopter capable of fulfilling many different roles.
Civil
Many civilian helicopters are made for utility work such as agricultural aircraft. Many police and fire departments maintain and operate utili ...
, the
EH101
The AgustaWestland AW101 is a medium-lift helicopter in military and civil use. First flown in 1987, it was developed by a joint venture between Westland Helicopters in the United Kingdom and Agusta in Italy in response to national requirement ...
.
In March 1999, Finmeccanica and GKN announced their intention to merge their respective helicopter subsidiaries. The two parties announced finalised terms for the merger in July 2000, which included a 50-50 ownership structure, and the payment of top-up fees to GKN to compensate for a disparity in profit levels between Agusta and Westland.
In January 2002, AgustaWestland announced that it would be cutting a total of 950 jobs in the United Kingdom and closing its factory in
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...
, which carried out customer support work, as activity was concentrated at its main site in
Yeovil
Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...
.
On 26 May 2004, GKN confirmed that it had agreed to sell its share of AgustaWestland to Finmeccanica for £1.06 billion. The sale was approved by the British government in October 2004.
AgustaWestland opened offices in Philadelphia in 2005 and won a contract to build the new presidential helicopter
Marine One over the U.S. manufacturer
Sikorsky Aircraft, but this program was cancelled in 2009. In November 2005, it was announced that AgustaWestland had agreed to acquire
Bell Helicopter
Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters in M ...
's 25 per cent interest in the AB139 medium twin helicopter program, and to increase its interest in the BA609 civil
tiltrotor
A tiltrotor is an aircraft which generates lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered rotors (sometimes called ''proprotors'') mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles usually at the ends of a fixed wing. Almost all tiltrotors use a trans ...
aircraft from 25 per cent to 40 per cent.
In June 2008, AgustaWestland and the Russia-based helicopter manufacturer
Russian Helicopters
JSC Russian Helicopters (russian: Вертолёты России ''Vertolyoty Rossii'') is a helicopter design and manufacturing company headquartered in Moscow, Russia. The company designs and manufactures civilian and military helicopters. The c ...
agreed to form a new joint venture company to assemble AW139 helicopters in Russia. Construction of a $50 million helicopter assembly facility in the town of
Tomilino
Tomilino (russian: Томи́лино) is an urban locality (a work settlement) in Lyuberetsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: In terms of population, Tomilino is the largest urban-type settlement in Lyuberetsky District.
Tomi ...
near Moscow began in June 2010.
In early 2010, AgustaWestland acquired
PZL-Świdnik
PZL-Świdnik S.A. (''Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego PZL-Świdnik S.A.'') is the biggest helicopter manufacturer in Poland. Its main products are PZL W-3 Sokół and PZL SW-4 Puszczyk helicopters. In early 2010 the factory was acquired by ...
, a Polish helicopter manufacturer.
In September 2012, AgustaWestland and
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
announced the signing of a comprehensive teaming agreement under which the companies would jointly bid for contracts to build the U.S. Air Force Combat Rescue helicopter and U.S. Navy's new "Marine One" presidential helicopter.
In March 2013, AgustaWestland announced its
Project Zero hybrid tiltrotor/fan-in-wing technology demonstrator. The unmanned demonstrator made its first tethered flight in June 2011 at AgustaWestland's Cascina Costa, Italy facility. According to the company, the aircraft "employs no hydraulics, doesn't burn fossil fuel and generates zero emissions."
AgustaWestland AW101 order controversy
India signed a contract to purchase 12
AgustaWestland AW101
The AgustaWestland AW101 is a medium-lift helicopter in military and civil use. First flown in 1987, it was developed by a joint venture between Westland Helicopters in the United Kingdom and Agusta in Italy in response to national requireme ...
helicopters in February 2010 for the Communication Squadron of
Indian Air Force to carry the president, PM and other VVIPs. The contract was frozen in February 2013 after allegations surfaced that US$60 million had been paid as a bribe. On 12 February 2013,
Giuseppe Orsi
Giuseppe Orsi (born 24 November 1945 in Piacenza) is an Italian engineer, businessman, and corporate executive. He had a long career at Finmeccanica, Italy's leading high-technology group, and in November 2011 was appointed its Chief Executive Off ...
, the CEO of Finmeccanica, was arrested by Italian authorities; the following day Indian Defence Minister
A.K. Antony ordered a probe into the contract.
In January 2014, India cancelled the US$630 million deal, subsequently recovering the sum which it had paid.
Merger into Leonardo
In 2016, following a corporate reorganization, AgustaWestland merged into
Leonardo S.p.A., Finmeccanica's new name. With this reorganization, AgustaWestland ceased to exist as a separate company, and it became Leonardo's helicopter division.
In 2020 Leonardo relaunched the "Agusta" brand for the VIP helicopter sector. The launch of the new brand was announced during Expo 2020 in Dubai.
Products
See also
*
List of Italian companies
Italy is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe with the third largest nominal GDP in the Eurozone and the eighth largest in the world. As an advanced economy the country also has the sixth worldwide national wealth and it is ranked third ...
Comparable major
helicopter manufacturers:
*
Airbus Helicopters
*
Bell Helicopter
Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters in M ...
*
Boeing Rotorcraft Systems
Boeing Rotorcraft Systems (formerly Boeing Helicopters and before that Boeing Vertol) is the former name of an American aircraft manufacturer, now known as Vertical Lift division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.
The headquarters and main ...
*
MD Helicopters
MD Helicopters, LLC. (formerly McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems) is an American aerospace manufacturer. It produces light utility helicopters for commercial and military use. The company was a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft until 1984, when Mc ...
*
Russian Helicopters
JSC Russian Helicopters (russian: Вертолёты России ''Vertolyoty Rossii'') is a helicopter design and manufacturing company headquartered in Moscow, Russia. The company designs and manufactures civilian and military helicopters. The c ...
*
Sikorsky Aircraft
References
External links
*
AgustaWestland sectionof helis.com (helicopter history site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agustawestland
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Italy
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Defunct helicopter manufacturers
Helicopter manufacturers of Italy
Defunct helicopter manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2000
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2016
Technology companies established in 2000
Technology companies disestablished in 2016
British companies established in 2000
Italian companies established in 2000
Italian companies disestablished in 2016
British companies disestablished in 2016
Manufacturing companies based in Rome
Leonardo S.p.A.