Leonardo has signed with the UK Ministry of Defense an contract worth 271 million pounds (about 320 million euros) for the provision of support and training services for the fleet of 62 AW159 Wildcat helicopters operated by the United Kingdom Army and Navy. The contract was announced by Defense Supply Minister Harriett Baldwin during her visit to Leonardo's Yeovil plant in south-east England today. The execution of the five-year contract will start on April 2012 in line with the provisions of the program called Wist (Wildcat Integrated Support and Training - Integrated Support and Training for Wildcats), with a total duration of thirty years and undertaken starting from XNUMX. The program includes the supply of spare parts and technical and safety support services, as well as training for pilots and maintainers.
The contract directly supports over 500 highly skilled jobs, mainly in south-east England at Yeovilton naval air base, where maintenance and training activities for Wildcat helicopters are concentrated, and at the Yeovil plant. Leonardo also contributes to the program through its Edinburgh and Luton plants with its Airborne and Space Systems division with regard to radar and self-protection systems. Partners and subcontractors also include Thales UK for aircraft communication and management systems, with maintenance personnel drawn from its Crawley and Morson facilities and seconded to Yeovilton base. "The Wist contract - reads a note from the company with a high technological impact - is based on performance criteria in its execution, encouraging Leonardo to continuously improve the level of supply and to constantly reduce costs along the operational life cycle of the fleet. This formula is similar to the so-called IOS (Integrated Operational Support) contracts already in place for the UK MoD's AW101 Merlin, Sea King and Apache AH Mk.1 helicopter fleets and which Leonardo is successfully executing".
