The Portuguese Naval Aviation (Aviação Naval Portuguesa) first modified Super Lynx Mk 95A shipborne helicopter has made its first test flight, the service announced on 18 February. Work to modernise and extend the lives of the navy’s fleet of five Super Lynx Mk 95 helicopters is being carried out by Leonardo Helicopters at its facility in Yeovil, United Kingdom, under a contract awarded in July 2016 worth an estimated EUR69 million (USD76.4 million). The modernisation package includes the replacement of the original Rolls-Royce Gem 42 engines with more powerful LHTEC CTS800-4N turboshafts.
The Portuguese Naval Aviation of the Portuguese Navy exclusively operates the Super Lynx Mk.95. The Super Lynx Mk.95 Mk.95 is a version of Super Lynx for the Portuguese Navy, with Bendix radar in undernose radome, dipping sonar but no FLIR. Three new build plus two converted ex-Royal Navy HAS.3s. In 1990, Portugal signed a contract for a total of five Super Lynx, two of them being refurbished ex-Royal Navy aircraft. A total of two Lynx can be operated from the flight deck of a single Vasco da Gama-class frigate; they typically accompany the vessels, including during long distance deployments for anti-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa.
The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to the development of both battlefield and naval variants. The Lynx went into operational usage in 1977 and was later adopted by the armed forces of over a dozen nations, primarily serving in the battlefield utility, anti-armour, search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare roles. The Lynx is a fully aerobatic helicopter with the ability to perform loops and rolls. In 1986, a specially modified Lynx set the current Fédération Aéronautique Internationale’s official airspeed record for helicopters (category excludes compound helicopters) at 400.87 km/h (249.09 mph), which remains unbroken as of 2019.
