UAE Selects AgustaWestland AW609 TiltRotor Aircraft for Search, Rescue Missions

The United Arab Emirates’ Joint Aviation Command (JAC) has selected the AgustaWestland AW609 TiltRotor for search and rescue (SAR) missions.

Delivery of the first three AW609 TiltRotors to the JAC, with three additional options, is expected to start in the 2019 timeframe.

The JAC will be the launch customer for the search and rescue variant of the AW609 TiltRotor, which will include a tailored equipment configuration to meet its specific operational requirements.  

The AW609’s speed and range characteristics, combined with its ability to hover, will dramatically increase SAR mission capabilities of the UAE’s Joint Aviation Command.

The Joint Aviation Command currently operates eleven AW139 helicopters for a range of missions, including SAR. The JAC will further expand its operational capabilities leveraging on the 275 knot maximum speed and 750 nm range of the AW609 TiltRotor.

With approximately twice the speed and twice the range of a helicopter, the AW609 can dramatically reduce the time it takes to reach a rescue scene.

The AgustaWestland AW609 is a twin-engined tiltrotor VTOL aircraft with a configuration similar to the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. The aircraft is also capable of landing vertically like a helicopter.