WESTLAND WESSEX HU.5 "IN COMMANDO ROLE"

The Westland Wessex was a British multi-role all-metal helicopter with a fixed, three-support undercarriage in a classic layout with a main rotor and a tail rotor on the beam. The drive was provided by two Bristol Siddeley Gnome Mk.110/111 turbo-shaft engines, 1369 hp each. The flight of the first prototype took place in 1958, and serial production continued in 1958-1970. About 360 copies of this successful helicopter were created. Westland Wessex was produced under the US license of the Sikorsky H-34 helicopter, but it underwent many changes: first of all, different engines were used, different power transmission, and in later versions also more and more perfect avionics. As a result, despite keeping the external similarity, the Westland Wessex was a very different machine from the Sikorski H-34. Several development versions were created in the course of serial production. The first of them, designated as HAS.1, initially served as an anti-submarine helicopter (ZOP), and later as a search and rescue helicopter. Another version (HAS.3) was intended for ZOP operations and had a much more extensive avionics than the HAS.1 version. Helicopters of this type were exported to several countries, including Australia, Oman and Iraq.