NHI NH90

infobox Aircraft
name = NH90
type = Medium transport/utility helicopter
manufacturer = NHIndustries

---

caption = An NHI NH90 of the German Army
designer =
first flight = 18 December 1995
introduced =
retired =
status = Being delivered
primary user = German Armed Forces
more users = Italian Armed Forces French Navy Australian Defence Force
produced =
number built =
unit cost = €16,000,000
variants with their own articles =

The NHI NH90 is a medium sized, twin-engine, multi-role military, fly-by-wire helicopter manufactured by NHIndustries, a company established by Agusta, Eurocopter and Stork Fokker Aerospace. The NH90, which can be flown by a single pilot, is designed to operate by night and day and in poor weather. It has been ordered by several nations and entered service from 2007.

Design and development

On 1 September 1992, NH Industries signed an NH90 design-and-development contract with NAHEMA (NATO Helicopter Management Agency). This agency represented the four participating nations: Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands. Portugal joined the agency on 21 June 2001. The design work started in 1993, with the first prototype, the PT1, making its first flight on 18 December 1995. A second prototype, the PT2, first flew on 19 March 1997 and the third prototype, the PT3, on 27 November 1998.

The NH90 program is handled by NH Industries while production shares of the 3 Partner Companies involved are 32.00% for AgustaWestland – Italy, 62.50% for Eurocopter – Germany & France, and 5.50% for Fokker Aerospace - The Netherlands.

The NH90 has been developed into two main variants: the Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) and the NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH), however, many of the customer countries have requested special solutions for their NH90s. The program had some technical and funding problems in the beginning of the 1990s, but a large production order for 298 helicopters was launched on 30 June 2000 by the partner countries. This soon followed by a series of orders from Europe and Asia/Australia.

In 2001, three Nordic countries signed purchase orders, Sweden placed an order for 25 helicopters, Finland for 20 helicopters, and Norway for 24 helicopters.

On 29 August 2003, Greece ordered 34 NH90s with another 14 in option.

In 2005 Australia ordered 12. The number was revised In June 2006 when Australia announced plans to order at least 34 more NH90s, taking their total order to 46 [cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/defence-to-spend-2b-more-on-choppers/2006/06/18/1150569211566.html|title=Defence to spend $2b more on choppers|author=Sydney Morning Herald|date=2006-06-19|accessdate=2006-06-19] . In Australian service, the NH90 will be known as the MRH 90, where MRH stands for Multi Role Helicopter [cite web|url=http://www.nhindustries.com/publications/FO/scripts/newsFO_complet.php?lang=EN&news_id=328|title=AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT ORDERS 12 NH90 HELICOPTERS|author=NHIndustries|date=2005-02-06] .

In July, 2006, the Saudi Government signed a contract to purchase a total of 142 helicopters, including 64 NH90, 20 Eurocopter Cougar, 42 Eurocopter Fennec, 4 Eurocopter Panther naval, and 12 Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters. [http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?session=dae.16783124.1132671768.Q4MzGMOa9dUAAF6SoX0&modele=jdc_34]

In July 2006, the New Zealand Government signed a contract to purchase 8 NH90s (plus 1 extra for spares) to replace their Air Force's fleet of Iroquois.

The program ran into a 2 year production delay due to the complicated type approval procedure, and the first NH90s were delivered by late 2006 to the German Army. These were followed by Italian and Finnish helicopters in 2007. Later during 2007, the Italian and French navies started to receive their NFH versions and the first Swedish and Norwegian NH90s were also delivered. On 18 December 2007 the first two MRH 90 aircraft were delivered to the Australian Defence Force.

The NH90 was initially intended to be produced at 3 main assembly lines; Cascina Costa in Italy for AgustaWestland, Marignane in France and Donauwörth in Germany for Eurocopter. However, the Nordic and Australian contracts stipulated production locally (the Nordic ones at Patria in Finland and the Australian ones in Brisbane).

On June 20 2007, during the Paris Air Show 2007, Belgium signed the contract for its 10 NH90 (4 NFH, 4TTH + 2 options) and also became the 6th nation to join NAHEMA, furthermore, on the same day, the German Army and the Luftwaffe placed an order for 42 additional NH90s.

The type certification for the Finnish helicopters were finally approved by February 19, 2008. [ [http://www.mil.fi/ilmavoimat/tiedotteet/3806.dsp www.mil.fi notification] ]

Versions

NFH: NATO Frigate Helicopter

The primary role of the NFH version is autonomous anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-surface unit warfare (ASuW), mainly from naval ships. These aircraft are equipped for day and night, adverse weather and severe ship motion operations.

Additional roles include anti-air warfare support, vertical replenishment (VERTREP), search & rescue (SAR) and troop transport.

TTH: Tactical Transport Helicopter

The primary role of the TTH version is the transport of 20 troops or more than 2,500 kg of cargo, heliborne operations and search & rescue. It can quickly be adapted to MEDEVAC/CASEVAC missions by fitting up to 12 stretchers or cargo delivery capability

Additional roles include medical evacuation (12 stretchers), special operations, electronic warfare, airborne command post, parachuting, VIP transport and flight training.

The abbreviation TTT (Tactical Troop Transport) is used for Finnish and Swedish TTHs in some contexts.

The unit prices were estimated in 2001 as ranging from 19 million Euros for the tactical transport helicopter (TTH) to 30 million Euros for the NATO frigate helicopter (NFH).Fact|date=February 2008 Italy signed a Euro 3.2 billions contract from 2000 to 2018 for their order of 116 + 1 (in option) NH90s.Fact|date=February 2008

Operators

[
thumb|A_German Army NH90 flight demonstration] The current NH90 order book is as follows:

;AUS
* Army / Navy: 46 MRH 90 (TTH);BEL: 10: 4 NFH + 4 TTH (+ 2 options) (delivery expected 2011) [cite web|url=http://www.nhindustries.com/publications/FO/scripts/newsFO_complet.php?lang=EN&news_id=341|title=Nahema signs contract for 10 NH90 helicopters for Belgium|date=19 July 2007|accessdate=2007-09-12] ;FIN: 20 TTH (SAR);FRA
* French Army: 68 TTH
* French Navy: 27 NFH;GER:
* German Air Force: 42 TTH/CSAR + (12 options)
* German Army: 80 TTH
* German Navy: (30 NFH are still to be ordered);GRE:
* Hellenic Army: 16 TTH, 4 TTH (Special Operations) + 14 TTH (in option);ITA:
* Italian Air Force: 1 TTH/CSAR (in option)
* Italian Army: 60 TTH
* Italian Navy: 46 NFH, 10 TTH;NLD
* Royal Netherlands Navy: 20 NFH [ [http://www.nhindustries.com/publications/FO/scripts/newsFO_complet.php?lang=EN&news_id=344 "FIRST FLIGHT OF ROYAL NETHERLANDS NAVY NH90 NFH"] , "NHIndustries", 10 August 2007] ;NZL
* Royal New Zealand Air Force: 8 TTH plus one to use for stripping of parts [cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10393834|title=Air Force gets new helicopter fleet|date=31 July 2006|accessdate=2007-04-19] "Canbird Economics", "Aviation Week & Space Technology", December 4 2006.] .;NOR: 6 NFH (ASW), 8 NFH (Coast Guard), (10 in option for SAR mission);OMA
* Royal Air Force of Oman : 20 TTH models with an enhanced power plant ordered for tactical transport operations and search & rescue operations. They are expected to be delivered in 2008. [ [http://www.eurocopter.com/publications/FO/scripts/newsFO_complet.php?lang=EN&news_id=473 Eurocopter - First NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopter For Oman Performed Maiden Flight At Eurocopter In Marignane] ] ;POR
* Portuguese Army: 10 TTH;SAU: 64 (announced July 2006);ESP:Total of 104 distributed as followed. The first delivery is planned for 2010 with 45 helicopters. Spain will have a final assembly line operational at Albacete."News Breaks", "Aviation Week & Space Technology", January 1 2007.]
* Spanish Air Force: 28 TTH/CSAR
* Spanish Army: 48 TTH
* Spanish Navy: 28 NFH/TTH/CSAR;SWE: 13 TTH (SAR), 5 NFH (ASW)

pecifications

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=copter
jet or prop?= prop

ref=

crew=2 pilots
capacity=20 troops/12 stretchers
payload main=
payload alt=
length main=16.13 m
length alt=52 ft 11 in
span main=16.30 m
span alt=53 ft 5¾ in
height main=5.23 m
height alt=17 ft 2 in
area main=
area alt=
airfoil=
empty weight main=5,400 kg
empty weight alt= 11,900 lb
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=10,600 kg
max takeoff weight alt= 23,370 lb
more general=

engine (prop)=Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322-01/9
type of prop=turboshafts
number of props=2
power main= 1,662 kW
power alt=2,230 shp
power original= each, or:
*Powerplant: 2× General Electric T700-T6E turboshafts, 1,577 kW (2,115 shp)

max speed main= 300 km/h
max speed alt= 162 knots, 186 mph
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main=800 km, 497 mi (TTH); 1,000 km, 621 mi (NFH)
range alt=
ceiling main= 2,960 m
ceiling alt= 9,711 ft
climb rate main=480 m/min
climb rate alt=1,574 ft/m
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=

armament=Missiles: anti-submarine and/or Air to surface missiles (NFH version)

avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=

similar aircraft=
* AgustaWestland EH101
* H-92 Superhawk

sequence=

lists=

see also=
* European defence procurement

References

External links

* [http://www.nhindustries.com/ NH Industries Official Website]
* [http://www.nh90.net/ NH90.net Non-official Website]