FN Herstal celebrates US Army, AW101 advances

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By Craig Hoyle

FN Herstal is at the show celebrating a major recent success with arming some of the US Army's Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters, and also after completing integration work with an AgustaWestland AW101 utility helicopter.

The Belgian company has been selected to equip a fleet of 340 OH-58Ds with its M3P 0.50cal (12.7mm) machine guns, as part of an urgent upgrade to the type for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The full integration deal is the first of its kind secured with the US armed forces, as previous work by the company on types including the Boeing CH-47 Chinook and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk has centred on providing pintle-mounted weapons only.

Some of the army's OH-58Ds have already received M3P guns, following flight trials performed in the USA late last year. The weapon has a precision engagement range of up to 2.5km (1.3nm), FN Herstal says. "It's a big step, and an incredible highlight for the company," it adds.

© FN Herstal

The company also in early April supplied two of its RMP pods, each with three integrated launch tubes for 70mm rockets, for flight trials with an AW101 in Belgium (above). The host aircraft was an Italian military example, but the work was performed in support of an export campaign involving the type with an undisclosed nation.