The Westland Lynx is a remarkable piece of equipment. Not only does it hold several world-records, it is one of the few helicopters in the world which can roll upside-down. The Lynx operates in several roles, including ASW, other Naval duties, CASEVAC, Liaison Transport & the Anti-Tank role.

Developed from the WG.13 as part of the Anglo-French helicopter agreement of 1967, the Lynx has proved to be incredibly versatile, with sales of a variety of variants to many different customers worldwide. Production of the Lynx is shared 70/30 between Westland & Aérospatiale. The first prototype flew on the 21st of March 1971, & five other prototypes were built. The British Army version, the AH.Mk1 first flew on the 11th of February 1977, & was cleared for service later that year. Since then, the Lynx has built up an impressive reputation, serving extremely successfully in the Falklands with the Royal Navy.

The Cold War plan for the Lynx was to send it to forward dispersal sites, with a support unit on the ground for refuelling & maintenance. A flight of Gazelles would act as observation aircraft, & would find targets for the Lynx. The Lynx, equipped with its 8 TOW missiles would then fly 'Nap Of the Earth' to a suitable location in view of the target, but behind some sort of cover, usually a farmhouse or some trees. The Lynx would then acquire its targets, which were usually Command vehicles or AA Systems rather than tanks, leaving the then undefended & confused tanks to be destroyed by fixed-wing aircraft (A-10, Harrier, etc.). The Lynx would then fly up from behind its covered position momentarily, & fire a few TOW missiles. It would then fly to a new covered location & go through the same procedure against more targets. Lynx is now being replaced by the WAH-64 Apache in the Anti-Tank role, but Lynx will continue in the Battlefield Utility role.

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