The British Army, specifically 1 Aviation Brigade HQ, was tasked to provide two aircraft every day to support the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Those two aircraft (and often a spare aircraft) were generated every day from the pool of seven aircraft that Leonardo maintains on behalf of 1 Regiment, Army Air Corps; normally to provide conversion-to-type training sorties for new pilots. These aircraft were used to fly government officials and senior NHS staff around the country to the Nightingale hospitals that were being built.

Steve Longdon, Head of Wildcat Support and Training Service at Leonardo Helicopters UK, commented on the support Leonardo in Yeovil provides to the armed forces: “We build new and modify existing aircraft at Yeovil to provide operational capability to the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Front Line Commands. For Wildcat, these are the Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) and Navy Command.”

He explained further how once an aircraft is delivered, Leonardo, through its support contracts, enables the provision of training to aircrew and maintainers, material spares and repairs, technical data and information, aircraft scheduled maintenance, and a guaranteed number of available sorties to meet an annual flying rate.

“We may not be wearing military uniforms, but here at Leonardo, we strongly believe that our day job is to do everything possible to keep military aircraft operationally available to allow the MoD to meet its annual flying task commitments,” said Longdon.

In addition, the UK MoD’s fleet of Merlin helicopters have also been involved in the Covid-19 pandemic operations. Leonardo, through its Integrated Merlin Operational Support (IMOS) contract, has been supporting the UK MoD in its daily flying task commitments to ensure the helicopters are available to deploy at a minimum of 24 hours’ notice.

“I am immensely proud of the support Leonardo continues to provide to our Armed Forces, but particularly during challenging times such as Covid-19,” said Nick Whitney, MD of Leonardo Helicopters UK. “We work closely with our customers every day, which grants us an in-depth insight into their challenges and their needs. Our platforms are designed to meet our customers’ requirements. As the Armed Forces utilize the Wildcat and Merlin, we can provide great levels of synergy in our support to them."