Europe's NH Industries (NHI) consortium is to launch deliveries of the NH90 tactical transport helicopter in its final operational configuration, having completed work to clear the delayed standard for frontline use.
Heralding the development as "the most important achievement in the life of the NH90 programme", NHI lead stakeholder Eurocopter said the first final operational-standard aircraft will be handed over to the French army before year-end. "It will be followed by the start-up of deliveries in 2012 to Italy, Belgium and Germany," it added.
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| © Eurocopter The German army will get its first fully operational NH90s next year |
The declaration of compliance was approved by the NATO Helicopter Management Agency, which oversees the NH90 programme on behalf of its customer nations.
The NHI consortium has so far delivered 80 NH90s in the tactical transport and naval frigate helicopter models, from a combined orderbook for 529 of the aircraft for 14 nations. Achieving full operational readiness with the former type is a critical step, with almost 80% of the orders made for this variant.
Development work on the naval version of the NH90 has also encountered difficulties, with several users having received their first examples in a so-called "meaningful operational capability" standard only suitable for supporting training activities. Shortcomings with this initial configuration have led to criticism from at least one high-profile customer - the Netherlands.
Speaking at Shephard's Heli-Power conference in Farnborough in the UK last month, Dutch Helicopter Command chief Air Cdre Theo ten Haaf said: "Industry with the NH90 has focused too much on building an aircraft, and too little on the support."
Source: Flight International
