Saturday, June 13, 2009

DTN News: NH-90 Helicopter Still Too Heavy For Dutch Frigates

DTN News: NH-90 Helicopter Still Too Heavy For Dutch Frigates *Source: ANP Dutch Press Agency (NSI News Source Info) THE HAGUE - June 13, 2009: State Secretary of Defence Jack de Vries on Wednesday had “bad news” for the House of Commons, he said. The NH-90 helicopter ordered by the Ministry of Defence is still heavier than planned. 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 – France and Germany, and 5.50% for Fokker Aerospace - The Netherlands. The NH90 was intended to being developed in two variants: the Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) and the NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH), the program had some technical and funds problems at the end of the 90s, but a large production order was launched on July 2000 by the partner countries. The main serial production NH90 are born from 3 assembly lines of the NHIndustries Partner Companies community: Cascina Costa in Italy for AgustaWestland, Marignane in France and Donauwörth in Germany for Eurocopter although the Finnish and Australian contracts establish that theirs airframes w would be assembled locally. By 2005, the NH90 logbook shows a total of 357 firm orders, 86 options and 45+ selected NH90, by 13 countries and for 17 Armed Forces. [Program prime contractor] NH Industries had announced to measures to reduce the helicopter’s weight, but these have not had the desired result. The weight of the aircraft has been a problem for years. This is important because the additional weight makes them too heavy to land on the Dutch navy frigates for which they are intended. The Netherlands decided in 1991 to participate in the NH-90 program, and ordered twenty [of the NFH-90 naval variant] which should have replaced the current Lynx ship-borne helicopters beginning in 2007. However, because of the recurring weight issue, that date has been moved back several times. The latest date for their initial delivery has now been pushed back to 2011, de Vries said. It is not possible to rule out further delays, nor to say what extra costs will arise from the delays, he added.

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