Unfortunately the helicopters are there for a reason other than just enjoying the view; those reasons are in FOB’s, and not not FL100

I would imagine that NH Industries might do quite well to hire Team NZ to demonstrate their techniques and methods of operating and managing this platform firstly to themselves, and secondly to all the other operators of this platform. After the Norwegians elected to continue with deliveries, they are now looking for a commercially operated shipborne solution to fill the void!

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/n...requirements08 DECEMBER 2021

Norway considers NH90 alternatives to meet coastguard requirements

by Gareth Jennings

Norway is to field 14 NH90 NFH helicopters, of which eight will be used for coastguard, and six for anti-submarine and other maritime duties. For the embarked coastguard role, the country is looking at a commercially leased alternative to meet its requirements. (NHIndustries)

Norway has issued a request for information (RFI) for alternatives to its NHIndustries NH90 helicopters that are not able to meet all of the requirements of the country's coastguard.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Janes on 7 December that is gauging market interest should it decide to move forward with acquiring a long-term supplemental capability to the NH90s, by leasing an embarked helicopter capability from a commercial vendor.

“The Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) is exploring opportunities to procure leased aircraft services in support of coastguard operations within the Norwegian maritime area of responsibility focusing on the high north, the northern Atlantic, the Barents Sea, Svalbard, Jan Mayen,” the RFI stated. “The leased aircraft service will need to provide reliable and efficient embarked support to the coastguard vessels throughout the year during peacetime”

TheRoNAF has to date received 11 of 14 NH90 NATO Frigate Helicopters (NFHs), eight of which plans to operate on behalf of the Norwegian Coast Guard (NoCG) with the type being embarked on NoCG vessels. The MoD told Janes that a commercial leasing option would not see the NH90s being replaced, though it noted that it is considering a long-term solution to supplement the type in service. The RoNAF also operates 10 Leonardo AW101 Merlin helicopters in the land-based search and rescue (SAR) role.

The devil is in the detail as you would well know 212. There is an article saying Germany has had a serviceability rate of some 12% or so with its NH90 and Tiger, placing the blame on Airbus who does the maintenance. Where does the truth lie? You'd need someone with the wisdom of Solomon to discern the truth.

If you carrying these troops from an FOB to somewhere else you want to do that in the safest possible way. Based on the threat level in Afghanistan that was in “10.000ft” (or at least above the small-arms band and not in 50ft where every lucky guy with an AK on the ground can put a hole in you. If there is no radar or manpad threat, no reason to fly low unless for a surprise effect at the destination. From what I heard both Dutch and Australian troops, as well as some Americans who worked with the Dutch were happy that they were there to either transport them or save their arse. But we are digressing from the NH topic :-)

There was a very credible manpad threat, and airspace was worked in blocks depending on user/type - its not just as simple as flying around at 10,000 feet because you deem it safe. Let's just leave it there, as the more you type, the more obvious it is that you've no idea what you're talking about, which is why my responses don't contain the phrase 'from what I heard......'

You are wrong… spend a few hundred hours flying there and then. (Not in Cougars..) Talked to many nationalities operating on the ground… hence the “what I heard” And as I was stating, they weren’t flying at 10.000 ft but above the small-arms threat band, being protected by their EWS system for the very unlikely event of a manpad launch. And yes there were missions were this threat was higher and they subsequently operated low level as well.
Again let’s go back to the NH topic.

Maybe you flew in Afghanistan, but not in the South (unless you had a Stab call sign and left everytime you were needed). Manpads weren’t an unlikely event - many of us saw them.

You’re the one that dragged Afghanistan into the NH discussion. But please, if you’ve finished taking sh1t let’s get back to the NH90

Very interesting comment regarding the performance of the NH-90 and Tiger from the French Minister of the Armed Forces during the celebrations for the huge H160 order placed by the French Government.

​https://destimed.fr/Deplacement-de-F...​​

Much greater detail contained in the report from the German Inspector General.

https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/germany-pans-nh90-and-tiger-helicopters-for-low-availability-rates/147121.article

Germany pans NH90 and Tiger helicopters for low availability rates

By Dominic Perry14 January 2022

Germany’s fleets of NH Industries (NHI) NH90s and Airbus Helicopters Tigers are again the subject of stinging criticism for their poor operational availability, with their performance branded as “unsatisfactory”.

Detailing the issues in the defence ministry’s latest operational readiness report, Inspector General Eberhard Zorn says that the helicopters operated by the three branches of the armed forces collectively demonstrated a readiness level of just 40% in the year to mid-December 2021, compared with an overall figure of 77% for the country’s 71 main weapon systems, or 65% for combat and transport aircraft.

Although an improvement on previous years, Zorn says, the figure is “still at too low a level” and is “unsatisfactory”.

https://d3lcr32v2pp4l1.cloudfront.ne...jpg_912694.jpg

Source: Bundeswehr

Tiger (foreground) and NH90 both suffer from low availability rates

While that is in some cases explained by the continued use of legacy rotorcraft such as the navy’s Westland Sea Lynx and Sea Kings, plus the Sikorsky CH-53Gs operated by the air force, Zorn singles out the army’s NH90 troop transports and Tiger attack helicopters for particular censure.

“The reason for the low level of operational readiness remains, especially with ‘complex’ helicopters like the NH90 TTH, NH90 Sea Lion or the Tiger attack helicopter, the very time-consuming maintenance and inspection systems as well as the ongoing retrofitting measures to harmonsise the build standard,” he says.

He cites the nine different sub-variants of NH90 operated by the armed forces as presenting a particular challenge to support from a logistics perspective; the need for specific spare parts, tooling and training have an “aggravating” effect, he says.

Retrofit activities on the NH90s conducted by NHI consortium member Airbus Helicopters in France have been time-consuming, he says, citing delivery delays of up to 12 months, not helped by Covid-19 restrictions.

https://d3lcr32v2pp4l1.cloudfront.ne...ehr_869516.jpg

Source: Bundeswehr

NH90 retrofit activity is taking longer than anticipated to complete

Although maintenance timelines have reduced, says the report – halving the time taken under a previous contract – this was offset by spare parts shortages.

However, Zorn is hopeful this will improve from 2023, when a new centralised spare parts contract for all NH90 operators comes into effect.

NHI president Nathalie Tarnaud Laude recently acknowledged the manufacturer was falling short on maintenance and support provision and said it had begun a process to rectify the situation.

The German navy’s NH90 Sea Lions have also shown low availability levels, but this is in part due to the programme still being in its early stages and the disproportionate impact of absences on a small fleet; Cirium fleets data records just five examples in service.

https://d3lcr32v2pp4l1.cloudfront.ne...ehr_129856.jpg

Source: Bundeswehr

Operations in sandy conditions have taken their toll on H145M fleet

Meanwhile, the operational readiness level of the Tiger “continues to be an unsatisfactory one”.

This has been driven by a “traffic jam” at repair depot level due to a lack of capacity. Efforts to reduce the backlog will begin in 2023, but will not be completed before 2026, the report warns.

A separate process to streamline the maintenance process is also in train, with steps to be implemented until 2026 to “achieve a significant increase in material readiness”.

Older helicopters such as the CH-53G, Sea King and Sea Lion suffer from “age-related susceptibility to malfunctions and a difficult spare parts situation” and can only “be maintained with great effort”, Zorn notes.

The only rotorcraft not to attract criticism is the Airbus Helicopters H145M – flown by both the army and air force – although the operation of the type in Africa’s sandy environment did pose some challenges.

https://d3lcr32v2pp4l1.cloudfront.ne...ehr_792257.jpg

Source: Bundeswehr

Lack of programme maturity has pushed up A400M maintenance costs

Elsewhere, Zorn offers a relatively positive assessment of the Airbus Defence & Space A400M, which he describes as the “go-to tool” during the evacuation of Afghanistan.

Up to 10 A400Ms were available during the period, from a total fleet of 35, the report says. The focus is now on improving the transport’s military capabilities, it says.

However, Zorn adds: “The unsatisfactory technical product maturity of the A400M continues to result in increased maintenance costs, which clearly exceed the capacities of the air force.

“I therefore welcome that the related activities to improve the situation are now being coordinated and vigorously pursued by a steering group led by the [defence ministry] with the involvement of industry to sustainably improve the material readiness of the A400M.”

Little is said about the air force’s Eurofighter fleet, other than to note the overall positive trend in availability, aided by improved access to spare parts.

https://d3lcr32v2pp4l1.cloudfront.ne...jpg_730091.jpg

Source: Bundeswehr

Maintaining Tornado fleet is an increasing challenge

But it is a different story for the Luftwaffe’s elderly Panavia Tornado fleet, where material readiness is “increasingly challenging” to maintain and “can only be ensured with great effort”.

Repair times have also extended enormously: a 300h inspection that used to take 60 working days to complete now lasts for 180 work days, and the duration of a depot-level inspection has risen to 18 months from eight months previously.

“In addition, the risk of obsolescence that can no longer be controlled increases with every day of operation,” says Zorn, noting to the appearance of cracks in the refuelling probe and components that are no longer repairable.

Germany is attempting to procure a successor to the Tornado, enabling its retirement by 2030.

You know that when NHI top dogs admit that there is a problem then the problem is a lot worse than stated.
Masters for understating the issue.
A clear indictment of Airbus and Leonardo capacity and capabilities - or lack of.
Let’s see how the ‘blame game’ develops….
The NH90 fiasco has left numerous nations with severe chasm in their defence capability.
Conspiracy time. Maybe it’s the result of Airbus’s Chinese links and Leonardo Russian links affecting capabilities ?
I wonder if the account of the EH101’s poor availability will be mentioned during the forthcoming television documentary?
US Marines mentioned the poor support during this years’s GDH in Warsaw…..

If you are military - you need spares on the shelf and not rely on ordering some via complicated ways (to many who needs to sign the approval)
No wonder they're down most of the time.
Still, it seems, they haven't learned from the past.
When we went to sea for BOST with two SeaLynx on a frigate - we had three sets of sealing parts for the generator, which are needed with each generator change/swap.
Engine swap/finding problems by interchanging ie generators - you can imagine, how fast you can ground the helicopter?
So we flew to Portland, with some things to swap for parts........ - which helped to run the system - but not to show the problems of the system...

Spare me spares. Was a time when the entire fleet of our Wessex were grounded because of lack of a serviceable certain part, stores had spares on the shelf but couldn't issue them because they were minimum stock.

The NH90 continues to generate all the wrong kind of press - once again the Norwegians are threatening to terminate the programme. When you consider that 6 aircraft are continuing to operate in a "preliminary" configuration, and the last aircraft is 14 years late on delivery! What a disaster and what a threat to Western defence credibility for anyone that made the mistake of ordering them.

https://forsvaretsforum.no/forsvarsm...optrene/245557

News

https://image.forsvaretsforum.no/245...058&height=604LOW TRUST: A helicopter of the type NH90. According to the Minister of Defense, Norway has little confidence in the producer. Photo: Paul Kleiven / NTB.

Minister of Defense: Norway is considering dropping the NH90 helicopters

Norway is considering terminating the contract with the NH90 helicopters, says Minister of Defense Odd Roger Enoksen (Sp). They should have been delivered in 2008, but one is still missing.

NTB[email protected]JOURNALIST
PUBLISHED Wednesday, 09 February 2022 - 12:53 LAST UPDATED Wednesday 09 February 2022 - 13:22Enoksen asks the Ministry of Defense to start work on looking at maritime helicopters for the Armed Forces all over again, writes Aftenposten .

Tip us:

Do you have tips or suggestions for this or other issues? Send us an e-mail at: [email protected] or contact one of the journalists directly .

One possibility that is being considered is to terminate the contract for NH90.

The acquisition of the NH90 helicopters has long been scandal-ridden. Norway ordered 14 of the helicopters in 2001.

All of these should have been in operation in Norway in 2008, on board coastguard ships and navy frigates. 14 years later, one helicopter is still missing.

- We have now received 13 helicopters. But six of these are in a preliminary version. We hear from the Italian supplier that they may be upgraded in 2023, perhaps in 2024, says Enoksen.
Read more:https://image.forsvaretsforum.no/193...353&height=202

The ambition level for NH90 halved

- But the fact is that we now have little confidence in the supplier NHI.

There has been a lot of trouble with the NH90 helicopters. In 2019, it became clear that they would be more expensive to operate than first thought. Then the delivery was further delayed. At the end of 2019 , the Coast Guard expressed strong concern about helicopter preparedness, as a result of the problems with NH-90.

Norway has also previously considered terminating the contract, including in 2008, but it is estimated that it will be about as expensive to keep the contract as to terminate it.

Since it has now been even more years without all the helicopters being delivered, and it is also not clear when this will happen, it should again be considered to terminate the contract, says Enoksen.

- Termination of the contract will be neither easy nor free of charge. But this is an expression of the end of patience.

In 2018, the Office of the Auditor-General concluded that the Armed Forces and taxpayers had spent NOK 8 billion on something that had not been delivered.

I really don't understand how companies can get away with this without serious repercussions. Who writes the contracts? Why do they not get upheld?

I get why NHI can get away with it though. They don't care about their reputation and aren't trying to sell anything else. Just milking the NH90 for all its worth.

Neither party knows what each other actually wants and there is no incentive to get the aircraft delivered. Multiple junkets on both sides - this is "normal" and each aircraft is "special".

Some people in the role have made a career out of it by the looks. No real surprise. The Norwegian one is "tall" and completely different frame for example.

Internally known as the "No Hope" 90.

By ”tall” you mean high cabin?

If so, the high cabin is the Swedish NH90. Only Sweden did get the high cabin.

The Norwegians have the standard ”low” cabin.

I knew it was one of the Scandyhooligan countries! All the same to me as haven't been there - yet. :ouch:

Insert your own punchline... :ok:

https://www.flightglobal.com/helicop...147569.article

[QUOTE=SWBKCB;11185171]Insert your own punchline... :ok:
I noticed that one earlier and thought that it perhaps lacked ambition and imagination. I really can't imagine any current scenario that these helicopters couldn't have a service life of 100 or even 1000 years as they never fly! ;) And talk about low MRO costs, a composite airframe, with the same components installed at manufacture should be able to last beyond mere decades, but into centuries.

Effing funny if NHI bid for NMH contract - stranger things have happened………
for NHI read Leonardo and Airbus in the main - heaven help us!!

No wonder if these things are sitting those 50 Years safely in the maintenance workshop waiting for spares. Clever strategy.

Plus, an additional feature that few may have considered, is how they will make a fine gate guard sometime in the future as the composite airframe will never deteriorate!

I'm surprised the Dutch didn't buy the high cabin version!!

Sixth Spanish NH90 delivered
 

Sixth Spanish Air Force NH90 delivered



https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....9de172e7c.jpeg

So that new Spanish one is going straight to the shed then?:)

should get a couple of hundred hrs out of it then most prob yes, sit in back of hangar, as each one comes flog it to death till they die and park them up.

Just heard the Australian MRH fleet is grounded again , MGB mount crack , this thing just goes from strength to strength :ugh:

Oh my, I just googled Blackhawk groundings, in order to see how it compares. I don’t think it will be the Panacea that is expected. Even the US Army Blackhawk fleet, as recently last year, is suffering poor spares, logistical support, maintenance support and very low flying rates and subsequent morale among it’s crews.

To read that there was only 11% of the Australian Blackhawk fleet serviceable in 1995 is sadly, sobering. (10 years after they entered service).

Stabilator issues on Mike models causing fatal accidents. Multiple engine failures.

here are some of the links. Sobering reading. Only 5 mins worth of googling.

https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo...-05-09/0032%22https://www.semanticscholar.org/pape...87fb52f0d50cdf

https://verticalmag.com/news/black-h...er-safety/?amp

https://www.military.com/daily-news/...diers.html/amp

https://taskandpurpose.com/military-...k-crashes/?amp

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-...html?_amp=true

https://www.timesofisrael.com/air-fo...functions/amp/

Now try the same for the Apache…😉

Numbers Tell a Different Story
 

Since 1979 more than 6000 variants of the UH-60/SH-60/MH-60 and S-70s have entered service around the world. Even Sweden procured H-60s after selecting the NH-90 under the NSHP program. By comparison NH Industries have delivered only 500 aircraft since 2007.

Bang on mate. 43 years of product development, maturity and world wide delivery and yet, still a lot of very concerning issues. NH is a cottage industry in comparison to Sikorsky, yet they have similar issues. Perhaps with the 1979 - 2022 maturity of the Blackhawk family, you would expect their issues would be less and have basically disappeared? Maybe it’s a Helicopter thing.

Really?
Did someone change the procedures in the flight manual for that? I'll see if I can get ahold of John Dixson to explain some of the nuances there.
There are procedures for that. T-700 reliability is impressive over its 40+ year life.

I'll take a look at the links, thanks.
Only if you don't understand helicopter aviation.
I hope that you are aware that pilots change, and that there is turnover? ;)
We have yet to perfect the Vulcan mind meld such that every thing I learned before I hung up my flight suit is absorbed by the next nugget to strap into a helicopter.
In other news, most of the A's have been converted to L's or have left US Army service, and most of the L's are undergoing mods to become the new V model (glass cockpit, like the M, as I understand it) and it looks like the Air Force got some HH-60W recently as the HH-60Gs, that have served long and well, slowly get put out to pasture.

Why I feel that the T-700 has gotten progressively better over the years.
About 30 years ago our Seahawks had some real troubles with uncommanded engine wind downs (usually roll backs, but on a few occasions the engines shut down) which curtailed some of our training until that rather complex set of problems were solved one at a time. (Aircraft to Engine interface was a root issue: Marconi, Sikorsky, and GE all took turns pointing fingers at each other). Two of the problems that I remember were floating grounds, bad diodes, and sometimes an HMU seal that would harden and fail (which IIRC was resolved at AIMD with a seal made by a different vendor, but I am really reaching here in terms of memory). Last time I talked to my Seahawk brethren (a bit before the SH-60B was sundowned in San Diego) I asked about that family of issues and it hadn't cropped up in years.
I still got some gnashing of teeth about main rotor dampers, viscous damper bearings, and HUMS from the operators

For Jack Carson: well howdy, glad to see that you are still among the quick! :ok:

As to the NH-90: I am sad to see it go from a neat idea (ah, the halcyon days of the 1990's) to 'having a few problems along the way' but if there are 500 of them up and flying, still, I'd say it's a successful model that, like any helicopter, has its quirks.

But it would seem very few of those 500 are actually available to fly at any one time and spend far more time in the hangar than in the air

Just an observation here and I am not in anyway being biased, a couple of questions spring to mind:

1) NH90 is a little more complex then S-70/H-60 airframe as the latter started from early 70s design manufacture evolving into 21st century. Also was the marketing strategy aimed at en masse production for the NH90?

2) It’s not a comparison but an observation: the AW139 production after 18 years (just over 2 decades if you count concept / R&D) reached 1000 airframes in sept 2019 with the 1000th airframe handed over to the Italian Guardia di Finanze (GdF). I know because I was invited to the event at Verigiate. Thats a Civil helo (and some mil customers with AW139M)

Amd just looking at numbers realistically could we ever produce en masse something like 100000 UH-1 in todays modern Hugh tech world? I believe was record number of Hueys produced making it biggest number since WW2)? Small civilian airframes like Robinson R22/44/66 then yes.

3) Speaking of Hueys am led to believe that some issues with the German NH90 were the logistics and support framework which had not evolve fRom the UH-1D (which NH90 primarily replaced in Bundeswehr) . In short the mindset was still there. The Oz problem is similar …

cheers

Low NH90 availability pinned on contract failings, but programme chief sees causes for optimism

By Dominic Perry 23 May 2022
https://www.flightglobal.com/helicop...148757.article

Availability rates as low as 25% on the NH Industries (NHI) NH90 were the result of too much focus on managing the acquisition and introduction of the helicopters and not enough on how to keep them flying, according to a senior Airbus Helicopters executive.

The 11t rotorcraft has come in for regular criticism from several customers due to inoperable aircraft, long wait times for spare parts or maintenance, and lengthy retrofit periods; Australia in particular has become so frustrated with the NH90’s problems that it seems almost certain to ditch its fleet in favour of the Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk.

https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?ur..._pGvEzzjpw--~D

Source: Commonwealth of Australia

Royal Australian Navy has retired its five MRH90s

“In the past the focus was on contract management,” says Christoph Zammert, executive vice-president of customer support and services at the airframer, which is a partner in NHI alongside Leonardo Helicopters and Fokker.

“The contractual set ups were not always putting enough focus and priority on flight availability. We have now realised this and we are moving towards a more collaborative approach [with customers].”

In part, that is due to the maturity of the programme, enabling a move to the “sustainment phase”, whereas previously “it was very much focused on managing the acquisition and industrial delivery of the fleet to the customers”.

However, that shift in mindset at the industrial and customer level “could have been done earlier”, admits Zammert.

Across the whole fleet – which encompasses 14 operators flying a mix of the naval NFH and TTH troop transport variants – availability rates average 40%, he says, with the manufacturer aiming to reach at least 50% by 2023, a level that “should be possible”, he says.

Zammert reveals that the lowest recorded availability rate was 25%; this was at a customer two or three years ago and was “mainly driven by the introduction of a new type in a support environment that was used to other OEMs’ models and needed to manage the transition to the NH90 generation”.

Although the NH90’s availability is frequently compared with that of the stock Black Hawk, Zammert argues that its performance is better benchmarked against helicopters where extensive mission equipment “adds complexity and generates additional maintenance workload”.

“You would see similar availability figures comparing the NFH to the Romeo or the TTH to the M-model Black Hawk,” he asserts.

https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?ur...h5lOrTcCmw--~D

Source: Bundeswehr

Weekly meetings take place with key customers

Airbus Helicopters has also invested in centrally held spare parts “rather than wait for the customer to do so”, which “past experience shows is not the best way of doing things”.

In addition, NHI and its partner companies have been working more closely with individual customers to tackle specific issues, and to share best practice across the operator community, says Nathalie Tarnaud Laude, senior vice-president and head of the NH90 programme at Airbus Helicopters and president of NHI.

She argues that a “transformation plan” launched last year and featuring 22 separate initiatives, is having a tangible impact on fleet availability. That has included the extension of maintenance intervals for certain tasks, plus the establishment of local partnerships for repair and overhaul work, such as with Kongsberg in Norway.

That deal appears crucial to NHI’s overall recovery plan in the Nordic country: frustrated with the slow pace of deliveries and low aircraft availability, Oslo in February again threatened to walk away from the programme if there was no improvement.

“We consider that developing a relationship with partners in Norway is very important. Considering the situation with Norway at the moment, where aircraft are not flying enough, we believe such partnerships can really make a big step-change,” she says.

Oslo laid out its concerns in a letter to NHI and Tarnaud Laude says the issues raised have been answered “with very clear solutions – we now believe we have a plan to improve the situation for them”.

https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?ur...z7uyAV_QFA--~D

Source: Norwegian defence ministry

Norway has threatened to walk away from the programme

Availability issues should ease further as the fleet grows: Norway’s final serial NH90 is due to be delivered shortly, followed by its final retrofitted helicopter by the end of 2023, she says.

The time taken to perform retrofits – a requirement due to early aircraft being delivered in an initial operating capability standard – has been another bone of contention with operators. That process is being accelerated, she says: there are 107 NH90s still awaiting retrofit and NHI has so far this year delivered five of the 20 upgraded units scheduled. That compares with 13 in 2021 and five in 2020, and illustrates “quite significant levels of ramp-up”, she says.

While mission systems are still awaited for “a couple” of helicopters awaiting retrofit, overall “we feel confident we can accelerate retrofit deliveries in 2022 as scheduled”, says Tarnaud Laude.

But even with the improvements being made they seem unlikely to be enough to rescue the situation in Australia, which in late 2021 said it would retire its MRH90s – the local designation for the NH90 – to be replaced by UH-60Ms.

Although no final decision will be made until the end of the year – and a change of government may alter the picture – Canberra seems set on divesting the NH90; indeed, it has already phased out five examples used by the Royal Australian Navy in favour of additional MH-60Rs.

Tarnaud Laude still holds out some hope that the NH90 can find a way back, but counsels that “we should not be naive” about its prospects. However, with the remaining 42 helicopters likely to continue in operation until 2026 or 2027, future support will remain necessary; both sides are discussing an extension to the current contract, she says.

https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?ur....arDQ.Kcew--~D

Source: Tom Buysse/Shutterstock

Life extension of 11t helicopter is being contemplated

“It is very important for us that no matter what the decision is that we deliver on our commitments [so] that the customer can fly when they want.” NHI is has promised that 38 units will be available by mid-2022.

Meanwhile, development of the new Standard 2 configuration for the French special forces continues, with the critical design review milestone imminent: “Here we are on a very good track,” says Tarnaud Laude. Deliveries are due to begin in 2025.

In addition, a separate major system upgrade called SWR3 is currently being discussed with the NATO NAHEMA helicopter management agency and NH90 operators. This could require considerable downtime to perform the upgrade on each helicopter, Tarnaud Laude admits. She remains hopeful this can be reduced to 12 months, “but we are not there yet”.

Meanwhile, NHI is hopeful that it will receive a contract from NAHEMA in the coming weeks to conduct an analysis that will allow the lifetime of the NH90 to be extended to 50 years.

“This is something that was positively appreciated by the customers who want to continue to operate the aircraft of course beyond 2030 and until at least 2050,” she says.

But with the backlog dwindling, production is currently set to run out in about 2026. However, Tarnaud Laude thinks more NH90s can be sold.

“To be honest with you we totally believe we can accept other customers,” she says. “We have a good machine – we are convinced that it is one of the best machines in the category – we just need to convince them it can be operated with better availability.”

About the upgrade program: "She remains hopeful this can be reduced to 12 months, “but we are not there yet”", says Tarnaud Laude. Not too impressive with a target of 12 months upgrade program for helicopters that for many has just come of the production line. And lifetime extended to 50 years "until at least 2050" is another big WOW. So aircraft delivered in 2022 will only have 28 years+ life until the program stops? And have to spend at least one year right of the bat in an upgrade program. An upgrade program that only brings new gizzmo to the aircraft and does nothing to improve on operational readiness. New gizzmos that need more repairs. And the final blow: "availability rates average 40%, he says, with the manufacturer aiming to reach at least 50% by 2023, a level that “should be possible”, Christoph Zammert says." Is 50% availability the stretch target? It should be 90+% shouldn't it. All aircraft typically follow the bath tub curve with high maintenance burden in the early life which then comes down during the mature phase and then skyrocket at the end of the product life. The NH90 is in the mature phase - it has been around close to 20 years. Toothing issues should have been resolved since long. And it took NHI only 20 years to figure out they should have spares on the shelve for their customers, contrary to the earlier assumption they will only manufacture parts to order. That philosophy would not fly well in the commercial world, and apparently not in the military world either. A production ramp up of more spares for storage will cause additional strain on supply chain, further drive cost, and further reduce availability while the stores are being filled up which will take years. This would only represent another revolution on the pain screw for the program. It seems they have a lot of fun at the Christmas parties at NH Industries coming up with new programs that includes a lot of fuzz words and promises but it seems customers now are rightfully fed up.

Sell the aircraft for a 'lowish' headline price to get the contract and then screw the customer with expensive parts and upgrades options when you have them over a barrel of poor availability.

Seems a common theme amongst manufacturers - not just in aviation - and never seems to engender customer loyalty, something that is supposed to be key to longevity of a company.

It was announced this morning that the Norwegian government has decided to return their 14 aircraft (13 delivered) and ask for their money back.

Norway to return NH Industries helicopters, seek repayment

Reuters
1 minute read
OSLO, June 10 (Reuters) - Norway will return the NH90 military helicopters it ordered from France's NH Industries because they are either unreliable or were delivered late, the defence minister and the head of the military said on Friday.

The government said it would also seek repayment of 5 billion crowns ($523 million) plus interest other costs from NH Industries, which is owned by Airbus Helicopters (AIR.PA), Italy's Leonardo (LDOF.MI) and Fokker Aerostructuresof the Netherlands.

NH Industries was not immediately available for comment.

No matter how many hours our technicians work, and how many parts we order, it will never make the NH90 capable of meeting the requirements of the Norwegian Armed Forces," Defence Minister Bjoern Arild Gram told a news conference.

The original contract for 14 helicopters was signed in 2001 but Norway has received only eight, the ministry said. "We have a helicopter that doesn't work the way it's supposed to," said General Eirik Kristoffersen, the head of Norway's armed forces.

​​($1 = 9.5572 Norwegian crowns)
Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; editing by Terje Solsvik and Jason Neely

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...es-2022-06-10/

A great article here from Vertical, with the official NH Industries response!
https://verticalmag.com/news/norway-cancels-nh90/

Norway terminates NH90 contract

BY GLENN SANDS | JUNE 10, 2022Estimated reading time 6 minutes, 7 seconds.

Norway has ended its NH90 helicopter contract, stating the contractor’s inability to find replacement components for critical systems on the helicopter. This included some components for the NH90’s anti-submarine warfare capability. Norway will now return all the helicopters and demand a full refund.

In a press release from Norway’s Ministry of Defence, Mr Bjørn Arild Gram stated: “Regrettably we have reached the conclusion that no matter how many hours our technicians work, and how many parts we order, it will never make the NH90 capable of meeting the requirements of the Norwegian Armed Forces. Based on a joint recommendation by the Armed Forces and associated departments and agencies, the Norwegian Government has therefore decided to end the introduction of the NH90 and has authorized the Norwegian Defence Material Agency to terminate the contract.”

Following the statement, the Norwegian Defence Material Agency informed the manufacturer of the NH90, NATO Helicopters Industries (NHI), that it was terminating the entire contract. The Agency will begin preparation to return the helicopters along with any spares and equipment received. Additionally, the Agency is requesting a refund from NHI, which will include an estimated five billion kroner it has paid under the contract, along with any interest and other expenses.

Director-General of the Norwegian Defence Material Agency, Gro Jære said: “We have made repeated attempts at resolving the problems related to the NH90 in cooperation with NHI, but after more than 20 years after the contract was signed, we still don’t have helicopters capable of performing the missions for which they were bought, and without NHI being able to present us with any real solutions.” https://i0.wp.com/assets.verticalmag...40%2C427&ssl=1Norway has announced the termination of its contract for the NH90. Photo Mats Grimsæth, Norwegian Armed ForcesNorway’s acquisition of the NH90 began in 2001, with 14 helicopters for the Coast Guard and anti-submarine warfare duties with the expectation that all would be in service by late 2008. Currently, prior to the termination, only eight have been delivered in full operational configuration. The fleet was expected to fly 3,900 flight hours per year, but recently this was averaging around 700 hours.

It was in February 2022 that the Norwegian Ministry of Defence asked the Armed Forces in cooperation with the Norwegian Defence Material Agency and the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, to conduct a full review of Norway’s maritime helicopter capabilities. The review revealed that even with significant additional financial investments, it would not be able to bring the performance and availability of the NH90 to the level that would meet Norway’s operational requirements.
Norwegian Chief of Defence, General Eirik Kristoffersen said: “This is the right decision for the NH90 and our maritime helicopter capability, and in line with our recommendation.“I have been impressed by the efforts made by our organization and everyone who has worked so hard to make the NH90 deliver. This has not been a question of a lack of effort, creativity, and skill, but quite simply that we have received a helicopter that has not been able to deliver. Also, even though we are now moving on from the NH90, we still need the support of those who have been working on the helicopter. My priority now is therefore to take care of everyone who has worked on the NH90.”
Following the termination of the contract, Norwegian NH90 flight operations stopped, and any planned future missions have been cancelled.Next for the Norwegian Ministry of Defence is to begin the selection process again, for an alternative maritime helicopter. Bjørn Arild Gram stated: “Norway continues to have a requirement for maritime helicopters, and it is, therefore, essential that we quickly begin preparations to fill the capability gap left by the NH90. We will consider several alternative approaches to meeting our operational requirements.”

Following the announcement, a statement from NHIndustries said: “We are extremely disappointed by the decision taken by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence and refute the allegations being made against the NH90 as well as the Company. NHIdustries was not offered the possibility to discuss the latest proposal made to improve the availability of the NH90 in Norway and to address the specific Norwegian requirements.

“NHIdustries and its Partners have been absolutely committed to addressing the concerns expressed and have brought the appropriate and tailored solutions to the table to meet the specific and unique Norwegian requirements. With 13 helicopters delivered out of 14, and the last example ready for acceptance, we were close to finalizing the main scope of the initial contract. NHIdustries considers this termination to be groundless.”
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