https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/ne ... 68.article
20 April 2021
The UK’s Qinetiq-run Empire Test Pilots’ School (ETPS) is poised to complete its major fleet renewal programme,
with a trio of replacement rotorcraft due to enter use within months.
Qinetiq says it will declare initial operating capability “this summer” with the assets:
a pair of Leonardo Helicopters AW109 Grands, plus a single AW139.
Each equipped with an electro-optical/infrared sensor turret and featuring “a modern, complex avionics suite”,
the aircraft will be employed at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire
in support of ETPS courses for test pilots and flight-test engineers.
Aircraft to be replaced with new arrivals include two Qinetiq-operated AW109s,
which are aged 17 and 19 years.
A graphic released by the company depicts an AW139 in ETPS livery with the registration G-ETPP.
This airframe was in March purchased by the UK’s Castle Air, having originally been ordered by BAIC and first flown in 2017.
https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news ... pter-fleet
Announced on 19 April 2021,
the three new helicopters comprise one Leonardo AW139 and two Agusta A109S Grands.
All three platforms are due to be operational in the third quarter of this year,
at which time they will join the current ETPS rotary-winged inventory
that comprises four Airbus H125s, two A109Es, and one Bell 412.
The school also operates one Bell 205 and 412 in collaboration with the National Research Council (NRC) Canada.
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