Contenders for the UK’s New Medium Helicopter (NMH) requirement are due to meet with defence officials on 24 February 2023,
where they will likely be told of a further delay to the procurement process.
Aircraft suppliers Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo Helicopters and Sikorsky, alongside Boeing, which is pitching a support and training solution,
were last October selected for the next stage of the NMH acquisition and were awaiting the launch of an invitation to negotiate (ITN).
But recent ministerial statements have seen a softening of language, moving from a deadline of 31 March 2023 to simply “later this year”.
Commodore Jol Woodard,
ead of combat aviation programmes for the British Army, addressing delegates at Defence IQ’s International Military Helicopter conference in London on 21 February 2023,
declined to reveal the NMH programme’s latest timeline.
A “supplier session” will take place on 24 February 2023, he says, during which the latest programme schedule will be detailed.
But inter-departmental tensions amid wider government budget cutting appear to be slowing progress with NMH.
“We are working incredibly hard now to secure the necessary cross-government approvals
o allow us to launch the second stage of the competition as soon as possible,” says Woodard.
Airbus Helicopters is pitching the H175M for NMH, while Leonardo Helicopters is proposing the AW149. Both would be built in the UK if selected.
Sikorsky, meanwhile, is offering its S-70M Black Hawk, but has yet to detail its UK industrial plan.
Service entry had been expected in 2025 to match the out-of-service date of the Royal Air Force’s (RAF’s) Puma fleet
ut it is unclear if that goal can still be met under an increasingly compressed schedule.