The base variant is the AB212AM (AM stands for Aeronautica Militare??) The Italian Air Forcer eceived the first three aircraft in 1979 and used them for liaison and search and rescue tasks, mainly in the mountains.
AB212ICO
Some AB 212 have been modified by the Air Force with the collaboration of AgustaWestland. The main changes consisted of the installation of two 7.62 mm MG 42/59 swing machine guns at the side doors, two flare launchers on the sides of the tail beam manually controlled by pilots and machine gunners, ceramic and Kevlar armor at the bottom of the fuselage and armored seats with side protections for the pilots.
In this configuration, called AB 212 ICO (Increase in Operational Capacity), the crew consists of two pilots and two machine gunners, one of whom is also the operator of the on-board systems and the other air rescuer. [5] Machine gunners wear oxygen masks as protection and to communicate with each other and with the pilots via an intercom, as directly by voice it would be practically impossible in flight with the doors open.
source:
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_212
