NHIndustries NH90 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter. It was developed in response to NATO requirements for a battlefield helicopter which would also be capable of being operated in naval environments. The NH90 NH90 was developed and is manufactured by NHIndustries, a collaborative company, which is owned by Airbus Helicopters, AgustaWestland and Fokker Aerostructures. The first prototype conducted its maiden flight in December 1995; the type began to enter operational service with some customers in 2007. As of 2013, a total of thirteen nations have placed orders for the NH90. The NH90 has the distinction of being the first production helicopter to feature entirely fly by wire flight controls.[5] There are two main variants, the Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) for army use and the navalised NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH); each customer typically has various alterations and customisations made to their own NH90 fleets, such as different weapons, sensors and cabin arrangements, to meet their own specific requirements. In early service, the NH90 has suffered several teething issues, which has in turn delayed active deployment of the type by some operators. An NH90 of the German Army Role Medium transport/utility Contents helicopter Manufacturer NHIndustries 1 Development First flight 18 December 1995 1.1 Origins Introduction 2007[1] Status In service 1.2 Production Primary users French Army 1.3 Concerns over performance Italian Army Australian Defence Force 2 Design Finnish Army 3 Operational history Produced 1995–present Number built 244 as of July 2015[2] 3.1 Australia Unit cost €32.5 million[3] 3.2 Belgium (~US$42m) (FY13) TTH [4] 3.3 Egypt €36.4m (~US$50m) (FY13) NFH support 3.4 Finland €43.3m[4] (~US$59m) (FY13) NFH attack 3.5 France 3.6 Germany 3.7 Greece 3.8 Italy 3.9 Netherlands 3.10 New Zealand 3.11 Norway 3.12 Oman 3.13 Spain 3.14 Sweden 3.15 Cancelled orders 4 Variants 4.1 NFH: NATO Frigate Helicopter 4.2 TTH: Tactical Transport Helicopter 4.3 Designations 5 Operators 6 Notable accidents and incidents 7 Specifications 8 See also 9 References 9.1 Footnotes 9.2 Citations 10 External links Development Origins In 1985, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom teamed to develop a NATO battlefield transport and anti-ship/anti-submarine helicopter for the 1990s. The United Kingdom left the team in 1987.[6] On 1 September 1992, NH Industries signed an NH90 design-and-development contract with NAHEMA (NATO Helicopter Management Agency).[7] This agency represented the four participating nations: France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. Portugal later joined the agency in June 2001. Design work on the helicopter started in 1993.[8] The first prototype, PT1, made the type's first flight on 18 December 1995.[6][8] The second prototype, PT2, first flew on 19 March 1997 and the third prototype, PT3, on 27 November 1998.[8] On 12 December 2002, PT3 became the first helicopter to fly exclusively with fly-by-wire controls following the removal of mechanical back-up controls.[9] The NH90 was developed into two main variants: the Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) and the NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH).[6] These two main variants share about 75% commonality with each other.[10] Furthermore, many of the operators have requested specific configurations to their own helicopter fleets, thus each nation's NH90 is effectively customized to the end-user's requirements. During the development phrase of the programme in the 1990s, both technical and funding problems were experienced.[11] In June 2000, the partner nations placed a large production order, worth US$8.6 billion, for a total of 366 helicopters.[6][12] Additional orders have since followed from customers in Europe, Asia, and Australia. By April 2013, a total of 529 NH90s of all variants were on order by various customers.[13] Production The NH90 was initially intended to be produced at three exporting final assembly lines (FAL); Cascina Costa in Italy for AgustaWestland, Marignane in France and Donauwörth in Germany for Airbus Helicopters. The Nordic and Australian contracts stipulated production locally (the Nordic ones at Patria in Finland and the Australian ones in Brisbane). Spain has a final assembly line at Albacete.[14][15] The Marignane assembly line can reportedly complete up to 22 NH90s per year.[10] Major components are produced by each of the shareholding companies: Airbus Helicopters France 31.25% (Engines, Rotors, the Electrical, flight control and the core avionics systems) Airbus Helicopters Deutschland 31.25% (Forward and centre fuselage, the fuel, communications and avionics control systems) Fokker 5.5% (Tail structure, doors, sponsons, landing gear and the intermediate gearbox) AgustaWestland 32% (Rear fuselage, main gearbox, hydraulic system, automatic flight control and plant management systems, power plant and the NFH mission system) Items built by the shareholding companies are then distributed to the six locations for assembly and flight test (Marignane, France; Tessera, Italy; Donauworth, Germany; Halli, Finland; and Brisbane, Australia).[16] Cockpit of an NH90 during a public display In late 2006, the German Army, the first customer to receive production aircraft, accepted delivery of its first NH90 TTH.[17] In April 2010, the Royal Netherlands Navy was the first customer to receive the navalised NH90 NFH variant.[18] In June 2014, the consortium announced that they had completed delivery of the 200th NH90; at that point, the backlog of orders was reported as reaching out to 2020.[19] In order to alleviate delays and reduce the complexity of manufacturing a large number of NH90 variants, NH Industries proposed the adoption of a simplified baseline airframe which could be configured to the individual customer's requirements.[19] Between 2004 and 2016, the production lead times for the NH90 had reduced from 18 months to 7.5 months.[20] In 2014, worldwide production of the NH90 peaked at 53 helicopters.[20] In October 2015, the delivery of the 250th NH90 was formally accepted by the Italian Army.[21] In 2015, the rate of NH90 production declined, reportedly due to countries choosing to delay their orders and some contracts having been fulfilled; in 2016, the Finnish final assembly line became the first to close with orders for that line had been completed.[20] Concerns over performance In 2010, German newspaper Bild reported that German Army experts had concerns that the helicopter was not yet ready for the transportation of combat troops. They stated that the seats were only rated for 110 kg (240 lb), not considered enough for a fully equipped soldier. Heavy infantry weapons could not be adequately secured and the cabin floor was prone to damage, citing an anecdote of damage caused by footwear. The helicopter could only land on firm ground, with obstacles not exceeding 16 cm (6.3 in). Troops carrying full equipment could not use the rear ramp due to weight-limitations placed on it. Adding a door machine gun was not possible due to space taken by troop ingress and egress; there was also no provision for fast roping or paratroop equipment.[22] In response, the German Defense Ministry proclaimed that this article referred to a prototype, not to the production model; the specifications for which were not even finalised at the time. The prototype evaluation and its results were described as a normal procedure in an ongoing design process.[23] The lowered rear cargo ramp of a German Army NH90 In November 2011, the MRH90 program was placed on the Australian Department of Defence's "Projects of Concern" list.[24] The most serious problem identified by a diagnostic review, which caused a brief grounding in 2010,[25] is compressor blade rubbing caused by the bending of a spool in the Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 engine due to uneven cooling after shutdown. Other problems identified include failure of transmission oil cooler fans, windscreen cracking, an inertial navigation system that is slow to align, and the weakness of the cabin floor to withstand the impact of soldiers’ boots – a problem also encountered in German service.[26] In March 2014, it was announced that a Dutch NH90 had suffered higher than expected fuselage wear and corrosion following an extended deployment at sea; analysis by the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory attributed the corrosion to design and assembly flaws. In response, NHI Industries launched a corrosion prevention programme and enacted several design modifications.[27] In December 2014, Dutch NH90 deliveries, which had been temporarily halted earlier in the year, restarted after the majority of identified points were addressed and an agreement was made by the manufacturer to bear the cost of developing modifications, repairs, and preventive measures against corrosion.[28] Design The NH90 was designed to fulfill a NATO staff requirement for a multi-role, medium-sized military helicopter for both land and maritime operations.[29] According to Flight International, the NH90 has the distinction of being the first helicopter in the world to be developed in line with NATO requirements.[30] As such, the design of the NH90 meets with multiple national and international standards, including military airworthiness processes in Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands; conformance with FAR 29 and MIL-STDS design standards, as well as DEF-STN 00-970 icing conditions performance and electro-magnetic compatibility.[29] It is