AgustaWestland,
a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that the Royal Netherlands
Navy (RNLN) has taken delivery of a Mission Planning & Analysis
System (MPAS) in the Final Operative Configuration for its fleet of
NH90 NFH medium twin naval helicopters. This delivery of MPAS follows
the one released into service in 2011 and it is aimed at both supporting
new aircraft functionalities and implementing enhancements based on
operational feedback from more than one year of RNLN in service experience.
The system delivery to the Navy was achieved after successful execution
of the Acceptance Tests and Operational Verifications, initially at
the AgustaWestland Helicopter Support Systems facility in Sesto Calende
and then at the De Kooy Naval Base in the Netherlands. The RNLN MPAS
is based on the state of the art AgustaWestland designed Skyflight Planning
System, a multi-helicopter flight and mission planning solution core
to all variants of AgustaWestland’s mission planning stations.
The delivered final configuration is now fully supporting the RNLN’s
operations by providing the users with the means for complex mission
planning including sonic, auto-protection and surveillance systems as
well as a complete aircraft data upload/download capability and post
mission analysis. |
Daniele
Romiti, Chief Executive Officer, AgustaWestland said “This achievement
demonstrates our commitment to offering the market customized solutions
to meet the needs and expectations of our customers. This advanced mission
planning system helps crews maximise operational effectiveness, so we
are pleased to deliver this advanced solution to the Royal Netherlands
Navy.” “Many thanks to everyone involved who made this MPAS
grow to a very mature level and unique in its kind. This is also the
start of the operational usage of Skyflight under the umbrella of Customer
Logistic Support (CLS). Let’s continue the outstanding working
relationship we have established.” said Sjaak Snoeren, Program
Manager Mission Planning & Analysis System NH90 helicopter at Royal
Netherlands Air Force.
The Royal Netherlands Navy has ordered a total of 20 NH90 NFHs and was
the first customer to receive the NFH variant aircraft in April 2010.
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 The Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden,
Finland, Norway, Greece, Spain and Belgium in Europe, as well as Australia,
New Zealand and Oman. Almost 170 units have been delivered to customers
worldwide. The NH90 programme is managed by NAHEMA (NATO Helicopter
Management Agency) representing France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands
and Portugal, and by the NH Industries industrial consortium comprising
AgustaWestland (32%), Eurocopter (62.5%) and Fokker Aerostructures (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, the
T700/6E1 engine solution installation and on-board computers. Furthermore,
AgustaWestland is also responsible for the overall integration of the
NH90 naval mission system for all NFH variants. |
