The Austrian Armed Forces will soon have a replacement for the 50-year-old Alouette III helicopters. Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner decided on the Leonardo AW169M model, according to a report in the Kronen Zeitung.

In addition to the Italian manufacturer, Airbus and Bell were recently in the running. Now the die has been cast. The Ministry of Defense will buy a total of 18 units that will be delivered to the armed forces from mid-2022. However, there is no official confirmation from the minister yet.

The order value according to list prices is around 300 million euros. This is the largest army investment in around 20 years. Six of the 18 helicopters will also be used to train new pilots. The other 12 are intended as pure operational units.