Westland Lynx: Difference between revisions

 

In September 1974, the British and Egyptian governments initiated talks to establish a new Egyptian helicopter manufacturer.<ref name="1978 kemp 164">Ra'anan, Pfaltzgraff and Kemp 1978, p. 164.</ref> Out of these talks, the [[Arab British Helicopter Company]] (ABHCO) was established during the 1970s; this new organisation was accompanied by an initial arrangement to [[Licensed production|manufacture under licence]] the Lynx AH.1 in [[Helwan]], [[Egypt]]. A separate agreement was formalised with [[Rolls-Royce Holdings|Rolls-Royce]] to license manufacture the Lynx's Gem engines at the Helwan facility.<ref name="1978 kemp 164"/> However, this plan was ultimately aborted due to a lack of funds that resulted from the collapse of the [[Arab Organization for Industrialization]] (AOI).<ref>[https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1983/1983%20-%202198.html "Egypt rolls out Gazelle and receives Alpha Jets."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803121726/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1983/1983%20-%202198.html |date=3 August 2016}} ''Flight International'', 10 December 1983. p. 1518.</ref><ref>Ṣāyigh 1992, p. 64.</ref>

Announced in 1984, the ''Lynx-3'' was an enhanced development, featuring a stretched fuselage, a redesigned tail boom, Gem 60-3/1 engines, a wheeled tricycle undercarriage, BERP rotor blades, and increased fuel capacity.<ref name=Eden_pp497>Eden 2004, pp. 495, 497.</ref> Both Army and Naval variants were proposed;<ref name=Apostolo/> however, the project was ended in 1987 due to insufficient orders being placed.<ref name=Eden_pp497/> Only one Army Lynx-3 prototype was built.{{Citation needed|date=October 2014}} A development of the Lynx AH.7 with the wheeled undercarriage of the Lynx-3 was marketed by Westland as the ''Battlefield Lynx'' in the late 1980s. The prototype first flew in November 1989, and deliveries began in 1991. In British Army service this variant is designated as the ''Lynx AH.9''.<ref>"AgustaWestland Lynx, Super Lynx and Future Lynx". ''Jane's Helicopter Markets and Systems''. Jane's Information group, 2009. [http://search.janes.com/Search/documentView.do?docId=/content1/janesdata/binder/jhms/jhms4025.htm@current&pageSelected=allJanes&keyword=Lynx%20Westland "Subscription Article".]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} ''Jane's'', 8 July 2009.</ref>

 

 

On 19 March 1994, during [[The Troubles]] in Northern Ireland, the [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) brought down Lynx [[1994 British Army Lynx shootdown|AH.7 ''ZD275'' of the AAC with an improvised mortar]], striking it while attempting to land at [[Crossmaglen]] Army base. The pilot managed to crash land and the aircraft was destroyed, but all crew on board survived. Author [[Toby Harnden]] described the incident as the IRA's most successful operation against a helicopter.<ref name=SA>Harnden 2000, p. 398.</ref><ref>English and Oppenheimer 2009, p. 233.</ref>

 

Various British Lynxes were used during the NATO intervention in the conflict between [[Serbia]] and [[Kosovo]], later known as the [[Kosovo War]]. They were frequently employed to supply NATO forces inside the theatre, including those engaged in humanitarian operations.<ref>[http://www.nato.int/kosovo/history.htm "NATO's role in relation to the conflict in Kosovo."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123182646/http://www.nato.int/kosovo/history.htm |date=23 January 2012}} ''NATO'', Retrieved: 18 October 2014.</ref> In June 1999, the type was employed to escort British ground forces being air-deployed into Kosovo via [[Boeing Chinook (UK variants)|Chinooks]], during NATO's first phase of deployment.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/367078.stm |title=UK leads Nato into Kosovo |work=BBC News |date=12 June 1999 |access-date=5 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812022956/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/367078.stm |archive-date=12 August 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> For a number of years, British Army Lynx and Gazelle helicopters were deployed within Kosovo, performing reconnaissance and transport duties in support of NATO peacekeeping forces.<ref>Ripley 2012, pp. 80–81.</ref>

 

===South Korea===

The [[Republic of Korea Navy]] (ROKN) of [[South Korea]] took delivery of the first batch of 12 Mk.99 Lynx helicopters in 1990; a second batch of 13 Mk.99A Super Lynx helicopters began delivery in 1999.<ref name="korea ground">[https://archive.today/20141109173429/http://www.defensenews.com/article/20100420/DEFSECT01/4200303/ "South Korean Navy Grounds Lynx Helos."] ''Defense News'', 20 April 2010.</ref> The first Lynx batch was later upgraded to the same standard as the second batch; the changes included the adoption of a new radar, FLIR, and ESM systems.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/2000/2000-1%20-%201995.html "Republic of Korea Navy."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226234114/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/2000/2000-1%20-%201995.html |date=26 February 2019}} ''Flight International'', 4 December 2000. p. 87.</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%202164.html "Indecision hurts Korean Lynx Bid".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226234137/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%202164.html |date=26 February 2019}} ''Flight International'', 24 October 1987, p. 18.</ref> In 2013, South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced its selection of the AW159 Wildcat; deliveries of eight aircraft are planned for 2015–16; these will be used for search and rescue, anti-submarine warfare and surveillance missions.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/south-korea-picks-aw159-for-maritime-helicopter-deal-381045/ "South Korea picks AW159 for maritime helicopter deal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120111727/http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/south-korea-picks-aw159-for-maritime-helicopter-deal-381045/ |date=20 January 2013}}. ''Flight International'', 15 January 2013.</ref>

 

In May 2009, a ROKN Lynx successfully protected a [[North Korea]]n freighter from being pursued by [[pirate]]s off the coast of [[Somalia]].<ref>Mayer, Bill. [http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2009/05/south_korean_warship_rescues_n.html "South Korean warship rescues Norea Korean vessel off Somalia from pirate attack."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109193416/http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2009/05/south_korean_warship_rescues_n.html |date=9 November 2014}} ''cleveland.com'', 4 May 2009.</ref> In 2010, South Korea's Lynx fleet was temporarily grounded for emergency inspections following the crashes of two aircraft within the same week.<ref name="korea ground"/> Shortly afterwards it was discovered that the ROKN's helicopters had been victim of a maintenance scam, involving falsified documentation and faked replacement of components; by 2011, 12 employees of two South Korean private companies had been jailed, two ROKN officers were indicted, and several other officers were to be remanded as a result.<ref>[http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/03/14/92/0301000000AEN20110314008400315F.HTML "Two Navy officers indicted for Lynx helicopter maintenance scam."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109193228/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/03/14/92/0301000000AEN20110314008400315F.HTML |date=9 November 2014}} ''Yonhap News Agency'', 14 March 2011.</ref>

 

 

===Others===

 

===Land-based variants===

;Westland WG.13

:Prototype, first flight 21 March 1971. Thirteen prototypes built.<ref name="Lake pt 1 p134-5">Lake 1999, pp. 134–135.</ref>

 

==Aircraft on display==

* ''G-LYNX'', Westland's former demonstrator, is preserved at [[The Helicopter Museum (Weston)|The Helicopter Museum]], [[Weston-super-Mare]]<ref name="heli Weston">[http://helicoptermuseum.co.uk/westland.htm "AgustaWestland Helicopters."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622041218/http://helicoptermuseum.co.uk/westland.htm |date=22 June 2015}} ''The Helicopter Museum'', Retrieved: 16 October 2014.</ref>

* ''ZE477'', the Lynx-3 prototype, is on display at The Helicopter Museum, Weston-super-Mare<ref name="heli Weston"/>

[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1971]]

[[Category:Anti-submarine helicopters]]