The Westland WG.13 development started in the mid-1960s as a replacement for the Westland Scout and Wasp in Army and Navy service. The Lynx was the third of the trio of helicopters involved in the 1967 British-French collaborative deal, Westland holding the design authority for the aircraft. The semi rigid rotor was an important feature, intended to offer high manoeuvrability and good handling for shipborne operations.
The naval Lynx was designed from the outset to operate from small ships, the excellent handling available through the semi rigid rotor and the Westland deck lock and high energy absorbing landing gear have all resulted in worldwide success.

Westland began design work on an upgraded Lynx in 1996. By Aug 2004, there were 3 variants of Super Lynx, all of which have advanced, carbon and glassfibre reinforced 4 bladed main rotors protected by titanuium and nickel shields, as standard. The Series 100 has a standard cockpit and Rolls-Royce GEM 42 engines; the Series 200 has LHTEC CTS800 engines; and the Series 300 with LHTEC CTS800-4N engines and a highly integrated glass cockpit provided via a colour LCD display.

Since 2001 as a result of the agreement drawn up by Finmeccanica SpA of Italy and GKN plc of the UK the Lynx is produced and marketed by AgustaWestland.

The AW159 Wildcat is listed under AgustaWestland