NH Industries is pleased to announce the delivery occurred on May 5th at Eurocopter’s Marignane plant in France of the first NH90 NFH helicopter to the French Navy. This event marks the first delivery of a NH90 helicopter to the French customer.
The French Forces have up to now ordered 61 NH90 aircraft among which 27 are the Naval NFH versions and 34 utility transport TTH versions, to be followed by a subsequent optional batch of 34 TTH aircraft.
The Dutch, French, Italian, Norwegian and Belgian Navies have ordered a total of 111 NH90 NFH Naval helicopters which will give operators a dramatic improvement in operational capability and mission effectiveness, thanks to the outstanding technology incorporated in to the NH90.
The NH90 NFH variant is primarily designed for autonomous Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Anti Surface Warfare (ASuW) missions. The comprehensive mission equipment packages allow a wide range of additional missions to be performed including Search and Rescue (SAR), maritime patrol, vertical replenishment, troop transport, medical evacuation and amphibious support roles.
The helicopter is designed for embarked operations to be performed by day and night in adverse weather conditions. Due to its weight and dimensions, the deck-lock system, the deck traversing system and the automatic blade and tail folding system, it can operate from small frigates even in high sea states.
The NH90 is the most successful European helicopter programme ever. A total of 529 firm orders have been placed by 19 armed forces in 14 countries including France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Greece, Spain and Belgium in Europe, as well as Australia, Oman and New Zealand overseas and 46 NH90 helicopters are already in service today.
The NH90, developed in the TTH utility transport and NFH naval versions, proves the ideal solution to meet requirements from many potential additional customers worldwide for a large number of missions.
The NH90 programme is managed by NAHEMA (NATO Helicopter Management Agency) representing France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Portugal, and by the NHIndustries industrial consortium comprising Eurocopter (62.5%), AgustaWestland (32%) and Fokker Aerostructures (5.5%).
