Slovenia orders AW139M

As part of the Plan of Development Programmes 2023–2026 (PDP), the Slovenian government ordered six Leonardo AW139M medium-sized multirole helicopters.

The deal, based on the Government-to-Government model, was signed on Tuesday 28 November 2023 between the Ministers of Defence of Slovenia, Marjan Šarec, and Italy, Guido Crosetto. The contract is valued at € 188 million (excluding VAT). All AW139Ms will have the possibility to mount a MEDEVAC/HNMP module, which will be custom-made to fit the instruments and equipment of the medical teams. The helicopter is well suited to Search and Rescue (SAR) tasks, which includes mountain rescue.

The Multipurpose Military Helicopter Project was added to the PDP 23-26 in July this year and the new helicopters will replace the Bell 412 in use with 151 Helikopterska eskadrilja (HEESK, 151 Helicopter Squadron) at Cerklje ob Krki.

Scramble Magazine first reported on additional aircraft for the programme on 28 July 2023. Details on the delivery schedule will be released early next year.

Credit photo (just illustrative): Milspot (via Planespotters.net)