Airbus Helicopters and Leonardo have collaborated to lay the groundwork for the extended utility of the NH90 helicopter within NATO.
The project is a response to a NATO Helicopter Management Agency (NAHEMA) request that explores potential upgrades for approximately 200 NH90s employed by alliance members.
It will focus on the aircraft’s structural works, avionics, upkeep capacity, flight performance, communications, manned-unmanned compatibility, and greater commonality to match the shifting operational environment.
This study will be sent to NAHEMA by the end of the year, with the results to be examined by NATO countries and deliver necessary updates to their collective NH90 fleets.
“There are several studies running at the moment at NATO, EU, and national levels to assess the future of military helicopters,” Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even stated.
“Together with Leonardo we believe that the NH90 will have a central role to play in the future of European defence capabilities.”
Long Term ‘Roadmap’
The initiative serves as the Block 2 phase of NATO’s NH90 modernization research and is part of the alliance’s broader effort to define “next-generation capabilities and technologies.”
In 2024, NAHEMA launched the Block 1 phase of the NH90 advancement project, elements of which will form the foundation for the upcoming upgrade.
“The NH90 Block 2 study clearly complements on the longer term the evolution roadmap of the NH90 for which a major step based on the Software Release 3 contract (also called Block 1) had already been outlined last year,” Leonardo Helicopters Managing Director Gian Piero Cutillo commented.
“We’re committed to delivering a study able to meet NAHEMA’s expectations as well as bearing in mind nations’ needs and their evolving rotorcraft capability requirements.”
The NH90
The NH90 was first introduced in the 2000s by NHIndustries, a three-way venture between Airbus, Leonardo, and Fokker Aerostructures.
The aircraft measures 20 meters (66 feet) in length, weighs 11,000 kilograms (24,251 pounds), and has a rotor diameter of 16 meters (52 feet).
It is equipped with two 2,300-horsepower engines for a speed of 300 kilometers (186 miles) per hour, an operational altitude of 6,000 meters (19,685 feet), a range of 1,600 kilometers (994 miles), and a five-hour endurance.
The system’s fuselage has space for over 20 seated troops, more than 10 medical evacuation personnel, or two NATO-standard pallets.
It can be armed with mounted automatic machine guns, cannon pods, and air-to-surface missiles.
