(From Flightglobal.com)
NH Industries will hand Italy its first naval NH90 helicopter.
"The Italian navy's first NFH90 is the ninth helicopter to be delivered to navies," said Domenico Vaccari.
"NH Industries will deliver three more NFH90 MOC each to France and the Netherlands, while a total of, respectively, five and six will be delivered to the Italian and Norwegian navies," said Vaccari. Naval NH90s have accumulated more than 900-flying hours, he added.
To put this into perspective ... The first NH90 prototype had its maiden flight in December 1995. Deliveries began in 2006.
Compare to the following maritime helicopter ...
In early 1978 the Navy selected Sikorsky's S-70B design, which was designated "SH-60B Seahawk". The first production version SH-60B achieved its first flight on 11 February 1983. The SH-60B entered operational service in 1984, with first operational deployment in 1985.
By 1987, thousands of hours had been flown by SH-60B helicopters, operationally, and thousands more in training and work ups.
Here in the US we often complain about how long it takes to get aircraft, heck, any weapons system, from concept to operation. The folks in the NH90 program have made me feel slightly better, but I feel awful for those folks who have been waiting for this bird to arrive.
Anyone flown the aircraft?
I'd hope it's a good flyer, given all the time and effort that's been put into it.