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UK Royal Household To Replace S-76s With Italian AW139s

UK Royal S-76

The British Royal family have had two Sikorsky S-76C++ in service for the past 15 years.

Credit: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo

LONDON—The UK Royal Household has placed an order for two new helicopters from Italy’s Leonardo to replace the pair of Sikorsky S-76C++ aircraft currently in service.

A report on the Royal Family’s use of the Sovereign Grant, which is the funding from the UK taxpayer to support the duties of the King and the Royal Family, confirms that the two new helicopters will be delivered in the 2024-25 time frame.

Although not named in the official report, it has been widely reported in the British media that the Leonardo AW139 twin-engine medium helicopter has been selected for the mission. The two Italian helicopters will replace the two U.S.-made S-76s that have been in service for 15 years.

Despite King Charles' own efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of the Royal Family, the report states that a helicopter is essential to access remote parts of the UK and enables multiple engagements to be undertaken in a single day.

The report says to rectify this, the helicopters will make use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), as the AW139 can use a 50% blend of SAF and conventional fuel. The Royal helicopters are already making use of SAF provided from a temporary tank at RAF Odiham, where the Royal Helicopters are based. Procurement is now underway to build a permanent tank for SAF storage during 2025-2026 to “maximize the use of SAF.”

The report states that the two new AW139s will be leased; by contrast only one of the S-76s is leased, while the other is owned.

Tony Osborne

Based in London, Tony covers European defense programs. Prior to joining Aviation Week in November 2012, Tony was at Shephard Media Group where he was deputy editor for Rotorhub and Defence Helicopter magazines.