Originally Posted by
Phoinix
The 169 is a replacement for the alouette. Also for the 212 the 169 will be a logical “silent” replacement, after a recent avionics “upgrade” fail. It’s a LUH, but more than the 212 in every aspect.
A door gunner is not mandatory in Europe I guess, so not every helicopter is worked around it. By the looks of the US LUH (145) neither is there, with a tiny sliding door.
Actually the 169M is the silent replacement for the OH-58C Kiowa, as speaking to VSOs of the Bundesheer …longer term plan is for the AW169M to fulfill role of basic RW trainer .
cheers