Leonardo Helicopters has finally been declared the winner of the UK’s £1 billion ($1.34 billion) New Medium Helicopter (NMH) contest, which will see a reported 23 AW149s built at its Yeovil plant in southwest England.
Although there has been no official confirmation of the outcome, sources have told FlightGlobal that employees at Yeovil have been informed that the airframer has been successful in the tender process.
An announcement from the UK Ministry of Defence is expected on 2 March.
Staff had faced a nervous wait for news over recent days as the 1 March deadline for expiry of the manufacturer’s best and final offer loomed.
While Leonardo chief executive Roberto Cingolani had hinted during the group’s full-year results call on 25 February of positive news to come over the next 24-48h, as time ticked away, conflicting reports emerged that the deal had failed to receive sign-off from the UK Treasury.
But by the morning of Saturday 28 February, sources were indicating it was “more or less a done deal” and were just waiting for the final confirmation, which was eventually received later that day.
Cingolani had previously warned that without a deal like NMH it would have to re-evaluate the future of the Yeovil plant, putting up to 3,000 jobs at risk.
In addition to those for the UK contract, Leonardo Helicopters sees the potential for hundreds of AW149s for export to be built at the Yeovil factory.
during the group’s full-year results call on 25 February
