AgustaWestland strengthens ROK relationships

AgustaWestland has announced that it has signed partnership agreements with two companies in the Republic of Korea (RoK) as an initial step to providing dedicated service and training centres for the military helicopters in Korea. The agreements were made public on 6 September.

The first memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with Firstec Co., a company engaged in the provision and support of defence and security equipment and systems; and Dodaam Systems Co., a company engaged in developing training systems for simulation in the defence industry.

AgustaWestland sees the ROK as an important market for its military helicopters, with around 40 helicopters of varying types already in service there, performing a range of military, parapublic and commercial roles. The Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) operates 23 Super Lynx Mk.99 and Mk.99A helicopters in an ASW and ASuW role, the introduction of which played an important role the company establishing industrial cooperation with local industry.

The Korea National Police Agency (KNPA) also operates the AW109 family and AW119Ke helicopters; and the company has seen growing success with the AW139, with nearly ten helicopters purchased so far, with sales to the Korea Coast Guard for Maritime Patrol, SAR and EMS missions, Gangwon, Gyeonggi and Incheon Prefectures for Fire Fighting, and to Samsung for Corporate and VVIP transportation. 

Geoff Hoon, AgustaWestland’s managing director for international business said of the new MoUs: ‘The MoU’s covering integrated logistics support and training services provide opportunities for AgustaWestland to deliver enhanced through life support to operators such as the RoK Navy. The most important part was selecting the right partners and AgustaWestland is delighted to have the opportunity to work with both Firstec and Dodaam who will offer excellent value to the partnerships by providing maintenance and repair services, spare parts inventory management for military helicopters and a series of dedicated training solutions to the military services.’
 
AgustaWestland said it also sees further significant business opportunities in the RoK and is working to offer its product range and services to meet all of the major requirements. These include the Maritime Operational Helicopter (MOH), the Attack Helicopter programme (AH-X), the Light Civil Helicopter and Light Armed Helicopter (LCH/LAH) programmes in addition to ongoing requirements for Korea Coast Guard’s Maritime Patrol and Search and Rescue requirement, Korea National Police Department’s Law Enforcement programme, the Central Governments Fire Fighting requirements and the National Medical Centre’s new EMS requirement.