| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Contents | ||
The Westland Lynx is a helicopter designed by Westland Aircraft and jointly produced with Aérospatiale, first flying on 21 March 1971 as the Westland WG.13. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to the development of the Army and Navy Lynx, which went into operational usage in 1977 and was later adopted by the armed forces of over a dozen nations.
When piloted by Roy Moxam in 1972, it broke the world record over 15 and 25 km by flying at 321.74 km/h. It also set a new 100km closed circuit record shortly afterwards, flying at 318.504 km/h.
The British Army ordered 100 Lynx AH Mk.1 for various roles, including tactical transport, armed escort, antitank warfare (with eight TOW missiles), reconnaisance and evacuation. The Army have fitted a Marconi Elliot AFCS system to the Lynx for automatic stabilisation on three axes.
In British service it equips the Army Air Corps (AAC) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It performs an attack helicopter role for the AAC as the Lynx AH Mk.7, a role which it is also used for by the FAA in support of the Royal Marines. Its other role in the FAA is as a helicopter for surface combatants. In this role it carries out anti-submarine warfare, and can be equipped with the Sea Skua anti-ship missile.
Its most high profile combat role came with that missile, when it was used to devastating effect against the Iraqi Navy during the 1991 Gulf WarSee also: 2003 invasion of Iraq. The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. The war started with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. The result of the war was a decisive victory. The Lynx also saw service with British Army forces during that conflict. Its combat debut in British service came during the Falklands WarThe Falklands War or the Malvinas War ( Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas , was an armed conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas between March and June 1982. Though surprised by an Argentine attac, when three were lost, one on the MV Atlantic ConveyorSea Harriers off the coast of Ascension Island. The Atlantic Conveyor was a British merchant navy ship that was requisitioned during the Falklands War and sunk by an Exocet missile. Owned by Cunard, the 14,950 tonne roll-on, roll-off container ship was bu and one each on board HMS CoventryHMS Coventry (D118 was a Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by Cammell Laird and Company, Limited, at Birkenhead on 29 January 1973, launched on 21 June 1974 and commissioned on 20 October 1978. Coventry participated in the Falkland Islands War and HMS ArdentSeveral ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ardent Ardent was an A-class destroyer sunk in 1940 in the Norwegian Campaign of World War II. Ardent was a Type 21 frigate, sunk in 1982 in the Falklands War..
The most recent wartime mission for the Lynx was during the invasion of Iraq in 2003This is a list of aviation-related events from 2003: Events February 1The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates, killing all seven occupants. Fina Air begins services. May 25 Boeing 727 mysteriously disappears in Angola, along with pilot Ben Charles Padill. It has also seen extensive service during peacekeeping operations and exercises, and it is standard equipment for most Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom. It operates a number of aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, fifteen nuclear submarines, and various other ships, as well as aircraft and Britain's amphibious forces, the Royal Marines. The Royal Navy surface combatants when they deploy.