Westland Wasp

Table of contents

1 General History 2 Wasp in the Royal Navy 3 Wasp in the Royal New Zealand Navy 4 Wasp Statistics 5 See Also

General History

The Westland Wasp was a general purpose helicopter, basically a derivative of the British Army Scout helicopter, with the requirement of being small enough to land on Royal Navy frigates. At that time, frigates of the Royal Navy were much smaller compared to today's Type 22 and Type 23 frigates, and so had much smaller landing decks.

The first flight took place on 28th October 1962 and full production soon commenced, 98 in total being procured for the RN. She was a very successful aircraft being exported to Brazil, The Netherlands, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Africa. An impressive total of 125 aircraft were built in total.

The Wasp came into service with the Royal Malaysian Navy quite late, compared to the others nations who procured the aircraft. She joined the RMN on 11th May 1990. She had a relatively short career with that Navy though, being phased out just ten years later. Her replacement is to be the AS 555 SN Fennec.

Wasp in the Royal Navy

The Wasp had been taken out of service in the late 70s with the introduction of the Westland Lynx. It was brought back into full operational service when war broke out against Argentina, after the latter had invaded and then occupied the Falkland Islands. Seven old frigates were recommissioned and with them being unable to operate the new Lynx it was decided to reintroduce the Wasp. During that war, a Wasp, operating from HMS Endurance, the Antarctic patrol ship, launched a number of torpedoes which homed in on and heavily damaged the Argentinean submarine Santa Fe, which posed a risk to the British Task Force that was steaming towards the Falkland Islands. The submarine was later run aground by her crew due to the damage she had sustained, thus becoming the first casualty of the sea war, as well as the first direct engagement by the Royal Navy Task Force.

The Wasp was gradually replaced in the early eighties by the Westland Lynx helicopter, a more capable and deadly aircraft. The last Wasp was finally withdrawn from service in 1988 when the last of the frigates that the Wasp had been designed for was decommissioned.

The Wasp's though carried on in service with the Brazilian, Indonesian, New Zealand and South African Navies. In the Dutch Navy, the Wasp had been replaced by the same helicopter that had replaced it in the Royal Navy.

Wasp in the Royal New Zealand Navy

The first Wasp was purchased in 1966 being immediately assigned to the new Leander-class frigate of the Royal New Zealand Navy, HMNZ Ship Waikato, built at Belfast and launched in 1965 by HRH Princess Alexandra . They provided numerous tasks, as well as taking part in the Armilla Patrol in the Persian Gulf during the 1980s.

In 1997, four Wasp's performed a flypast, marking the arrival of the new ANZAC-class frigate, Te Kaha

They were very venerable and long-serving aircraft for the RNZN, two continuing in service until 1998, after an astonishing 32 years in service. HMNZS Waikato, the ship that had first operationally deployed the Wasp, was herself decommissioned that same year. They have since been been replaced by the far more capable SH-2F Seasprite.

Wasp Statistics

• Rotor Diameter: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
• Length: 40 ft 4 in (12.29 m)
• Max Speed: 124 mph (193 km/h)
• Max Weight: 5,500 lb (2,495 kg)
• Power:
  • One 783 kW (1,050 shp)
  • Rolls-Royce Nimbus
  • 103 Turboshaft
• Accommodation: 1 pilot and space for a further four
• Armament: Able to be equipped with cannon, anti-tank missiles and other rockets

Westland Agusta

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