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The AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant is the Canadian Forces designation for the AgustaWestland AW101 (formerly EH101), a helicopter used for air-sea rescue in Canada. Developed as a joint venture between Westland Aircraft in the UK and Agusta in Italy (now merged as AgustaWestland), the CH-149 is a medium-lift helicopter for military applications. ==Design and development== In 1977, the British Ministry of Defence issued a requirement for an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter to replace the Royal Navy's Westland Sea Kings. Westland responded with design ''WG.34'' that was approved for development. Meanwhile, the ''Marina Militare'' (Italian Navy) was also seeking a replacement for its (Agusta-built) Sea Kings, leading Agusta to discussions with Westland about the possibility of a joint development. This culminated in the joint venture being finalised in November 1979 and a new company (EH Industries) being formed to manage the project the following year - EH being an abbreviation for ''Elicottero Helicopter'' the English and Italian words for "helicopter." As the design studies progressed, EH became aware of a broader market for an aircraft with the same capabilities required by the British and Italian navies, leading to a more generalised design that could be customised. After a lengthy development, the first prototype flew on October 9, 1987. Following the lead of the UK and Italy, the Canadian government placed a C$4.4 billion order in 1987 for 48 (later 42) EH101s to replace the Canadian Forces's Sikorsky CH-124 Sea Kings and Boeing Vertol CH-113 Labradors. These were to be assembled in Canada under the designations ''CH-148 Petrel'' (33 originally, reduced to 28) and ''CH-149 Chimo'' (15) in the anti-submarine warfare and air-sea rescue roles respectively. The replacement programme was cancelled, however, after a change of government in 1993, leading to the payment of $157.8 million in cancellation penalties. In 1998, the Canadian government announced that the CH-113s would now be replaced by a new scaled down search-and-rescue variant of the EH101, carrying the designation ''CH-149 Cormorant''. Unlike the Petrel/Chimo contract, these 15 aircraft were to be built entirely in Europe. The first two aircraft arrived in Canada in September 2001 and entered service the following year. When it became obvious that the Sea Kings were in need of immediate replacement, the EH101 was again part of a Canadian competition (Maritime Helicopter Project), against a variant of the Sikorsky H-92, for a total price tag of C$5 billion. The Sikorsky entry won the competition on July 23, 2004, with the first six delivered June 2015. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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