Originally Posted by
PhlyingGuy
I heard at the Global Defence Helicopter show today that many of the operators (especially Sweden) were ranting about how unreliable and expensive the NH90 is and how they're all planning on moving to Black Hawks.
...well contrast that with the plans of NH Industries outlined in this article:
https://www.flightglobal.com/helicop...155235.article
A few extracts:
"NH Industries (NHI) is for the first time considering arming the NH90 transport, potentially offering a range of weapons – including rockets and guided missiles – as part of a future mid-life upgrade for the helicopter... the naval NFH variant carries torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare missions, options on the TTH troop transport variant have been largely limited to door guns, albeit Middle Eastern customer Oman has equipped some of its fleet with podded 20mm cannons..."
"Underpinning the upgrade plan are two key developments, however. First is an extension to the helicopter’s lifespan, taking it to 50 years from 30 currently... Feasibility studies supporting the lifetime extension (LTE) were completed earlier this year and revealed that no modifications would be required to achieve the longer service life... [The LTE] doesn’t come with a caveat or a pre-requisite: you take the aircraft as they are, and the lifetime can be extended without any particular intervention or retrofit.”
"NHI... has around 90 helicopters still in its backlog, having delivered the 500th example in March this year... Aloccio sees potential to add another 50-100 helicopters to the orderbook by 2028".