Press Release

Issued by Leonardo Helicopters.

November 13, 2009

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that the first prototype of the AW149 multi-role military medium twin helicopter successfully completed its maiden flight on November 13th at AgustaWestland’s Vergiate plant. The aircraft, flown by AgustaWestland Chief Test Pilot Giuseppe Lo Coco, performed as expected undertaking a 20 minutes flight that included an assessment of the helicopter’s general handling and basic systems. The first helicopter will be followed by a second prototype in 2010 with the aim to achieve initial operational capability in 2014.

Giuseppe Orsi, CEO, AgustaWestland, commented “The maiden flight of the AW149 adds to the recently accomplished first flights of the T129, the AW101 in the latest variant and AW159, confirming the company’s capability to continuously develop new products to maintain its competitive edge and to offer the market the most complete and modern product range”. Bruno Spagnolini, COO, AgustaWestland said “We are proud to have achieved this major milestone seeing the only new generation medium twin military helicopter take to the air. AgustaWestland is once more demonstrating its ability to develop the very latest rotorcraft technology designed to meet a range of requirements”.