NH90: The new generation naval helicopter

NH90 Naval helicopter

AgustaWestland is promoting the NH90 at this year’s Defexpo India as a contender for the Indian Navy’s multi-role helicopter (MRH) requirement. Meanwhile, deliveries of NH90s are now rapidly building up with over 100 naval and transport variants of the helicopter in service worldwide. Naval variants have now been delivered to France, Italy, the Netherlands and most recently Norway. These countries plus Belgium have a total of 111 NH90 NFH naval helicopters on order. The NH90 is the only new generation naval helicopter in its weight class and incorporates a number of unique features such as its all composite airframe and state-of-the-art fly-by-wire flight control system.

The NH90 NFH variant is primarily designed for autonomous and joint 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 day and night operations in adverse weather conditions from the decks of ships. Because of its optimal 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. Firm orders have been placed by 14 countries including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Greece, Spain and Belgium in Europe, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Oman outside of Europe. The NH90, developed in the TTH utility transport and NFH naval versions, proves the ideal solution to meet the requirements of the customers worldwide for a wide range of military roles. The NH90 programme is managed by the NATO Helicopter Management Agency (NAHEMA) representing France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal, and by the NHIndustries industrial consortium comprising AgustaWestland (32 per cent), Eurocopter (62.5 per cent), Fokker (5.5 per cent).

In the framework of the NH90 programme, AgustaWestland is responsible for the production of the main transmission, tail drive shafts, hydraulic system, automatic flight control system, rear ramp, rear fuselage and on-board computers. Furthermore, AgustaWestland is also responsible for the overall integration of the NH90 naval mission system for all NFH variants and in particular the electronic warfare system for Norway. AgustaWestland's Venice Tessera plant is the new final assembly line for the NH90s ordered by Italy (Army and Navy, 60 and 56 helicopters respectively), the Netherlands (20), Norway (14) and Portugal (10) giving a total of 160 helicopters so far.