AgustaWestland,
a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce the delivery of the first
NH90 NFH helicopter to the Norwegian Armed Forces. The delivery ceremony
took place 30th November at AgustaWestland’s Vergiate facility
in the presence of Brigadier General/Commander Frode R Flôlo,
NDLO Air Systems Division.
The NH90 delivered is the first of 14 NH90s intended to replace the
Lynx helicopters for the Coast Guard in addition to providing helicopter
ASW capability to the new Nansen class frigates. The Norwegian NH90s
will be based at Bardufoss Air Station where they will start their operational
career after initial training. Norway is one of the nations selecting
the NFH variant together with The Netherlands, France, Italy and Belgium.
A total of 111 NH90 NFH naval helicopters have been ordered by these
nations.
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 overseas. |
The NH90, developed
in the TTH utility transport and NFH naval versions, proves the ideal
solution to meet requirements of customers worldwide for a wide range
of military roles. 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
AgustaWestland (32%), Eurocopter (62.5%), Fokker (5.5%).
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. |
