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Description: The AW101 Merlin was an Italian-British ASW helicopter developed in the 1980s by the company Agusta Westland. In 1977, the Royal Navy submitted a new requirement to replace the Westland Sea King, which was quite old for the time being. At the same time, the Italian Navy was looking for a replacement for its Agusta ASH3D Sea King. And so the two nations started to develop a new helicopter that could satisfy the requirements of both nations. The two companies involved in the project, Agusta and Westland, finalized an agreement regarding the development and production of the AW101 in 1984. In 1985, the first mockup was shown by Agusta at the famous air show of Le Bourget. The mockup was shown to be possibly used in both civilian and military contexts. Two years later, on October 9, 1987, the first prototype took off. In that year, a total of nine prototypes were built to develop all the possible civil and military configurations. In 1995, the UK placed an initial order for 22 units and Italy for 16 units. Those two orders were later raised to 44 units for the UK and 22 for Italy. The Royal Navy later ordered 25 more AW101 in the transport version, designated as HM3 in the Royal Navy. In 2016, the Royal Navy upgraded 30 of its units to the HM2 standard. This standard featured mainly avionic upgrades such as an electro-optical turret on the side of the helo, a full digital cockpit, and ecc. On some AW101, the RN installed the Crowsnest Air Bone Early System to replace the Westland Sea King equipped with this system. Currently, the Merlin is being used as the main ASW heli of the Royal Navy since the AW159 is mainly used for anty ship operations. In the RN, the HM2 is equipped with the Stingray torpedo and the MK11 depth charges. It is also equipped with the Royal Ordnance machineguns used for self-defense. It is also equipped with flares and chaff countermeasures.
Why it should be in the game: It will give to the British tt a very powerfoul and modern ASW Heli if they will be implemented to the game.
Specifications
Sources
Riepilogo
Merlin HM2 Helicopter Royal Navy Agusta Westland AW101
AgustaWestland AW101 - Wikipedia
https://www.helihub.com/2021/03/29/new-crowsnest-aew-aw101-ready-for-royal-navy-service/
https://navyrecognition.com/index.php/naval-news/naval-news-archive/2023/january/12701-uk-royal-navy-receives-its-final-aw101-mk4-4a-merlin-helicopter-from-leonardo.html
AgustaWestland AW101 / Merlin HM2 —
Pictures
