The Westland Lynx was the result of a 1967 Anglo-French collaboration project to produce a number of common designs for their respective armed forces (the others being the French-designed Puma and Gazelle). Westland was to have design leadership on what was to become the Lynx, originally intended for naval and civil use but eventually developed with significant military capabilities as well, thus becoming the single most important helicopter of the British armed forces. The Lynx is designed with a conventional pod and boom fuselage structure with twin-turboshaft engines driving a four-blade main rotor and can come with either wheeled or skid landing gear. As a battlefield helicopter it can perform anti-tank, armed escort, casevac, reconnaissance, and tactical transport duties while naval versions are specialized for anti-submarine and anti-surface unit warfare as well as other support roles. The Lynx is remarkably agile, capable of performing loops and rolls, and has seen action with British forces in the Falklands, the Gulf War, and the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Over a dozen foreign operators confirm its export success, most notably France which has a share in the manufacturing process.

Maiden flight of the WG.13 prototype took place on 21 March 1971 and entered service initially with the British Army Air Corps as the Lynx AH.1 (ironically before the naval versions which had been intended first) where it was quickly deployed to squadrons in West Germany. Afterwards, a small number of experimental AH.5 units preceded the AH.7 variant which had a number of powerplant and tail rotor improvements. The latest attack version is the AH.9 (nicknamed Battlefield Lynx) which comes in both new build units and conversions with more powerful engines and systems as well as fixed tricycle landing gear. Naval versions of the Lynx began with the HAS.2 which differed from its land-based counterparts by having a manually foldable rotor pylon and wheeled landing gear. These have been improved as the HAS.3 with uprated engines and transmission and as the latest HAS.8 (nicknamed Super Lynx) which is a roughly equivalent naval upgrade to the AH.9. Variants for the French Aéronavale were the Lynx Mk. 2 and Mk. 4 which were roughly based on the UK's HAS.2 and HAS.3. Export versions are generally given their own unique mark number while a planned refinement for both Army and RN service is known as the Future Lynx and is currently under development.