NH-90 THEN AW-101 NOW
Let me go back more than a decade to the front lines of the NSHP. Having spent an inordinate amount of time pushing the H-92 for Norwegian missions including SAR, I now know that any aircraft would have fallen short in the government’s eyes. We were lambasted by the Norwegian Government for proposing an aircraft (H-92) that had no way of meeting all of their requirements. Hind sight is always 20/20. At the time, only the NH-90 met all of their very demanding mission requirements. Where is the NH-90 today? I have to admit now that, with knowledge of the Canadian S-92 issues many promises proposed for a mission compliant S-92 were at best a dream. Sikorsky would have most probably fallen well short. Good luck to Agusta Westland. They will need it over the long term.