Leonardo announced at the LAAD exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, an order for an AgustaWestland AW169 by the Argentine National Gendarmerie in support of law enforcement and border patrol operations, expanding the presence of Leonardo in the highly competitive Argentinian government sector. Delivery of the AW169 to the Argentine National Gendarmerie is expected in the second half of 2017 and follows the first commercial AW169s to enter service in Argentina and Brazil, respectively.

Mauro Moretti, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Leonardo said “The selection of the new generation AW169 by such an important customer in Argentina provides further evidence of the competitiveness of the Company’s high quality, advanced technology solutions that are designed to meet the current and future requirements of prime operators in Latin America, particularly in the demanding security sector”.

The AW169 multi-role, multi-mission capabilities allow operators to leverage the aircraft’s unique assets for surveillance, command, rescue and transport in support of a wide range of operations including public order and safety, crime control, counter terrorism, drug control and border security, and search and rescue. The Gendarmerie will operate an AW169 that features a night vision goggle (NVG) compatible cockpit, cabin roof hooks and wire strike equipment, and includes provisions for a cargo hook, external loudspeakers, rescue hoist, search light, fast roping and rappelling systems, and FLIR. This will allow the Gendarmerie to expand the scope of their missions in the future, as and when required.