NH90 does not deliver for Sweden, says the air force chief
The Swedish Air Force is evaluating the efficiency and performance of its NH90 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter, where the platform is currently judged not to deliver its planned capacity to the country’s military, it has emerged.
In 2001, the Swedish Air Force signed the purchase contract for 18 NH90 helicopters, classified as HKP14, and seven on option, and received the first ASW platform in 2015. The Swedish acquisition included nine in the land-based roles and the remaining nine in marine roles and received the eighteenth and last HKP14 2019.
Major General Carl-Johan Edström, commander of the Swedish Air Force, said at an event for the Swedish Air Force in London on July 17 that NH90 “did not deliver what it would deliver at the moment”, as the service conducts a broader review. of its rotating requirements.
Edström said that it was a “big decision” about what Sweden would do with its NH90 fleet and that the country had a dialogue with other operators on the platform.
However, the UH-60M Black Hawk fleet worked “really well” for the Swedish military, Edström said.
NH90 suffered a remarkable turnaround earlier this year, after Norway chose to discontinue its own NH90 program and said it would seek “full repayment of funds and assets received by both parties”, amounting to approximately NOK 5 billion that it has paid in the contract, in addition to interest and other expenses.
“We have made repeated attempts to solve the problems related to NH90 in collaboration with NHI, but more than 20 years after the contract was signed, we still do not have helicopters that can perform the missions for which they were purchased,” the Norwegian Defense Materials Agency said in a statement. on June 10.
The NATO frigate helicopter (NFH) is one of two versions of the NH90 twin-engine multi-role helicopter, manufactured by NHIndustries, with the other version designated the NH90 TTH (tactical transport helicopter). NHIndustries, the main contractor for the program, is a joint venture between Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo and GKN Fokkerr.
According to NHIndustries, the program is the largest of its kind launched in Europe, with more than 500 units ordered for France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Greece, Oman, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Belgium.
In April 2021, 444 NH90 aircraft were declared operational in 13 countries, with more than 100 fleet of NH90 helicopters delivered to six nations by November 2020.
Elsewhere, Edström said that the first four C-130H conveyors will be replaced by the J-model from 2028, except that he describes that Sweden’s future combat fleet will consist of a mixture of about 60 Gripen C / D and 60 Gripen E, over seven fighter jets. squadrons, as the country strives to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP.
A national strategy document will be published in November describing the platform that can replace the older Gripen C / D aircraft currently in operation.
In June, Sweden announced its intention to join NATO, a move influenced by Russia’s large – scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. NATO’s benchmark calls on members to contribute 2% of their national GDP to national defense spending.