Leonardo AW169

Updated: October 2026 – A rescue helicopter lands in an English meadow, a Guardia di Finanza helicopter patrols over the Italian coast, an olive-green one crosses Austrian valleys: behind all three there can be a Leonardo AW169. The light twin from Italy has established itself in air rescue, police and military service within a few years and is the direct competitor of the Airbus H145. Here you learn how to recognize it with confidence, how to tell it from the AW139 and H145 and where in Europe you are most likely to get it in front of your lens.

What is the Leonardo AW169?

The AW169 is a light to medium twin with a maximum takeoff weight of 4.6 tons, which can be raised to 4.8 tons with an upgrade package. In the Leonardo lineup it sits between the smaller AW109 and the clearly larger AW139. It is powered by two PW210A turbines from Pratt & Whitney Canada, a subsidiary of Pratt & Whitney, with digital engine control (FADEC). Depending on the cabin layout, it carries up to ten passengers, or two stretchers in the rescue version.

The idea emerged in the late 2000s, when AgustaWestland wanted to close a gap in its own lineup – in the class where Eurocopter was strongly represented with the EC145. The new type was publicly unveiled on July 19, 2010, at the Farnborough International Airshow. On May 10, 2012, the first prototype took off on its first flight in Cascina Costa near Samarate, the home base of the helicopter division near Milan Malpensa Airport. Four prototypes completed the test program.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, issued type certification under the CS-29 airworthiness code on July 15, 2015, and US certification followed in 2016. Final assembly has been running in Vergiate, Italy, since January 2015; important components such as rotor blades and gearboxes came from the British plant in Yeovil. A second final assembly line in Philadelphia was planned but was dropped in 2016.

Technology: what defines the AW169

The AW169 shares its design language and cockpit philosophy with the AW139 and AW189, but within its weight class it is a completely new development. A few details are interesting for spotters, too, because they shape the appearance.

• Electric landing gear: The AW169 was the first production helicopter in its category with electrically actuated landing gear. The civil aircraft therefore mostly stand on wheels that are retracted in flight.
• Variable rotor speed: The main rotor speed adapts to the phase of flight to cut noise and fuel consumption.
• No auxiliary power unit: Instead of an APU, a clutch in the gearbox can stop the rotor while one engine keeps running and supplies onboard power. On the ground you therefore sometimes see an AW169 with a running turbine but a stationary rotor.
• Glass cockpit: Three touchscreen displays and a four-axis digital autopilot allow instrument flight with a single pilot.

According to common data sheets, the AW169 reaches a top speed of about 306 km/h, a range of over 800 kilometers and a maximum endurance of a good four hours.

The three features that are enough to identify it

Modern twins look alike at first glance. With the AW169, three observations help you, and they work from some distance, too.

If all three points fit, usually only one question remains: AW169 or AW139? Here size helps. The AW169 looks more compact, with a lower cabin and a shorter tail boom. Final certainty comes, as always, from the registration or the type code in a tracking service. British aircraft carry registrations with the prefix G-; how the system works is explained in the article on British G registrations.

AW169, AW139 or H145?

The two most common mix-ups happen with the big brother AW139 and with the Airbus H145, the main competitor. The table summarizes the differences.

Feature	AW169	AW139	Airbus H145
Tail rotor	open	open	Fenestron (shrouded)
Main rotor blades	5	5	4 or 5
Landing gear	mostly wheels	wheels	skids
Size	light to medium	medium, clearly larger	light, similar to the AW169
Type code	A169	A139	EC45

The finder helps you narrow it down when you have only a photo or a short observation.

An overview of all common helicopter types is given by the guide How to recognize helicopter types. For comparison in the same class, it is also worth a look at the Airbus H160 and the smaller H135.

Where you meet the AW169 in Europe

Unlike the H145, the AW169 is rather rare in everyday civil service in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Its strongholds are in the United Kingdom and Italy, plus authorities in Scandinavia and the Austrian military. As of October 2026, the picture looks like this:

United Kingdom: Here the AW169 is one of the defining types of air rescue. Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex was announced in 2014 as the first British rescue operator for the type. According to the available operator lists, Specialist Aviation Services flies AW169s for several charity air ambulances, including Kent Surrey Sussex, Dorset and Somerset, Essex & Herts and Magpas. Cornwall and Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire also use the type, the latter through the operator Heli Service International. In addition there are aircraft for supplying offshore wind farms.

Italy: In its home country the AW169 flies mainly for state agencies. The financial police Guardia di Finanza flies it as the UH-169A, the Carabinieri as the UH-169C, and the Army (Aviazione dell’Esercito) as the UH-169B training helicopter and the UH-169D multirole version. In civil rescue service, several operators use the type, for example in Apulia, the Marche and Sicily.

Austria: The Austrian Armed Forces have ordered a total of 36 AW169s, in a training version (AW169B) and a weapons-capable multirole version (AW169MA), internally called “Lion.” The first helicopter arrived at the end of 2022, and deliveries continue in stages. The AW169 replaces the Alouette III, retired in 2024, and is later also meant to replace the OH-58 Kiowa. How to follow military flights online is explained in the article Tracking military aircraft.

Scandinavia and Slovenia: The Norwegian police chose the AW169 in 2017 and initially ordered three aircraft to replace their existing EC135s. The Norwegian Coastal Administration, the Slovenian police and Babcock Scandinavian AirAmbulance in Sweden also use the type.

Switzerland: There is a story here that is often told wrongly. Rega had bought three fully de-iced AW169 FIPS to be able to fly in icing conditions as well. In 2022 the contract was dissolved because the aircraft did not reach the required performance figures. So the AW169 does not fly in Rega service.

Place	Chance of a hit	Why
British air ambulance bases and hospitals	high	Several charities fly the AW169 day to day
Italian coasts, border regions and military airfields	medium to high	Guardia di Finanza, Carabinieri and Army
Austrian air bases and training areas	medium	Armed Forces fleet being delivered
Around Malpensa and Vergiate	medium	Plant, workshop flights and ferry flights
Major commercial airports in central Europe	low	Ferry, VIP and corporate flights

Many rescue and government helicopters transmit ADS-B data, though some flights are filtered. How to find them anyway is covered in the guide Tracking helicopters on the flight tracker.

A detour to Malpensa

If you want to experience the AW169 at its cradle, head to northern Italy. The home base of Leonardo Helicopters is in Cascina Costa, a few kilometers from Malpensa Airport, with final assembly in nearby Vergiate. Right at the airport, the aviation museum Volandia shows the history of Agusta and Caproni, including many helicopters from the company’s history. The spot Volandia at Milan Malpensa Airport combines a museum visit with spotting – with a bit of luck, new Leonardo helicopters also make their rounds there.

Spotting with consideration

A large part of the AW169 fleet is in service for rescue, police or the military. That brings a few duties with it.

Whether your vantage point is fine in principle is settled by the article Is plane spotting allowed?. You will find general tips on rotorcraft in the guide Spotting helicopters.

Photo tips especially for the AW169

With helicopters, the shutter speed decides. A very short exposure freezes the rotor, and the helicopter looks as if it is about to crash. With the AW169 there is something else: because of the variable rotor speed, it is worth trying out a few values.

The same technique as for propeller aircraft works for the rotor; details are in the guide Photographing propellers: the right shutter speed. You work out when the light suits your location with the sun position planner guide.

AW169M and the military versions

For armed forces and security agencies, Leonardo offers the AW169M. Depending on the customer there are different configurations: some aircraft have fixed landing gear or skids, others carry weapon stations for machine guns and rocket pods. In Italy the military and police variants run under the designation UH-169 with a letter for the user: A for the Guardia di Finanza, B and D for the Army, C for the Carabinieri.

Austria is the most important military customer north of the Alps. The AW169Bs serve training there, the AW169MAs as multirole helicopters for transport, support and armed tasks. Other military customers include Qatar, the Dominican Republic and North Macedonia. Military helicopters are most relaxed to see on open days and airshows – you will find dates in the overview of Airshows in Europe.

The Leicester accident

The type’s history also includes a tragic chapter. On October 27, 2018, a privately used AW169 crashed shortly after takeoff from the football stadium in Leicester, and all five people on board died. The British accident investigation body, the AAIB, found the cause to be a seized bearing on the tail rotor control shaft. Several safety recommendations came out of the investigation.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The AW169 is Leonardo’s answer to the H145: a modern light twin with five rotor blades, an open tail rotor and mostly wheeled gear. In central Europe it is rarer than its competitor from Donauwörth, which makes every sighting all the nicer – whether with a British air ambulance, over the Italian coast or at a demonstration by the Austrian Armed Forces. The tail rotor and blade count give you the first suspicion, size and landing gear narrow it down, and the type code A169 and the registration confirm.