The Italian Aerospace Information Web
by Aeromedia - corso Giambone 46/18 - 10135 Torino (Italy)
Agusta A 109E Power for US Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard has awarded a contract to the Italian company Agusta for the supply of A 109E Power helicopters to be employed against the drug traffic. A first batch of four Powers, completed and fully supported by the Philadelphia based Agusta Aerospace Corporation, will be delivered in September 2000; a second batch of four helicopters is on option, with possible delivery next year.
In September 1998, USCG set-up a new dedicated unit named Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron Ten (HITRON TEN) to validate a new concept to neutralise high-speed marine smugglers trying to reach the US' Southern coasts.
The successive one-year validation trials were jointly performed by C-130H Hercules surveillance platforms, ships and two leased MH-90 Enforcers (an armed version of MD Helicopters MD 902 Explorer) able also to shot the engines of the intruding fast boats.
Due to the positive results of the testing phase, USCG proceeded to select offers comprising the 30-month lease of the helicopters destined to HITRON TEN, for an initial 30-months period.
The offer centered on the Power resulted as the best cost-effective option to the mission accomplishment. Other bidding helicopters were MDHI Enforcer, Bell 407 and Eurocopter AS 365 Dauphin.
The FLIR equipped USCG A 109Es will be armed with a 7.62mm machine gun and a precision rifle. They will be shore-based in Florida but they will stay on duty onboard of USCG cutters on station along the US' Southern coastline and in international waters.
Agusta A 109E Power was the 1999 best-seller in its category. More than 140 have been ordered world-wide since the model introduction, for VIP transport, EMS and law enforcement duties
In the pictures: pictorial impression of A 109E Power in US Coast Guard colours (Agusta). Luxembourg Air Rescue MD Helicopters MD 902 Explorer LX-HMD on display at Le Bourget 1999. USCG Lockheed-Martin C-130H Hercules 1502 on patrol along the Dominican Republic coast. Sikorsky HH-60J Jayhawk 6032 of the USCG taxiing at the Charleston (South Carolina) airport, before a Medium Range Recovery mission. (photo by Aeromedia)
(Aeromedia, May 2000)