Italian HH-101A Caesar enters service
The Italian Air Force has commenced operational service of its first HH-101A Caesar helicopter, Finmeccanica announced on 25 February.
A total of four HH-101A helicopters have been delivered out of a total requirement for 15. The air force will use these helicopters to undertake personnel recovery and special forces missions, as well as supporting medical evacuation, search and rescue and slow mover intercept operations.
The HH-101A Caesar is the military variant of AgustaWestland's AW101 helicopter. It has a 30-minute transmission run-dry capability and features five composite main rotor blades and four fully articulated tail rotors.
The helicopter can be configured to accommodate up to five crew members and 20 fully-equipped personnel, or six crew and eight special operation troops. Depending on the configuration up to 12 stretchers can be hosted on board.
Three M134 7.62mm pintle-mounted machine guns are mounted on both sides and on the rear ramp of the aircraft. Armoured cockpit seats, ballistic protection for machine gun operators and critical systems and an integrated electronic warfare system have also been installed.
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