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Norway dumps NH-90, wants it's money back


Slater

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IIRC, the Aussies also announced a pre-mature withdrawal of all their MRH-90 (NH-90) fleet last year, almost two decades ahead of their scheduled retirement, opting for a Blackhawk/Seahawk combo instead. The Germans also have their fair share of issues with their fleet of NH-90 with serviceability rates reported as low as 10-15% by some sources. 

 

Not too many happy NH-90 operators out there it seems. I guess there will soon be cheap second-hand examples up for grabs!

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27 minutes ago, Slater said:

Wonder if Norway has identified a replacement yet?

Not yet. See the very last sentence of the announcement you linked.

”The Norwegian Defence Ministry said it will shortly begin the process of identifying an alternative maritime helicopter.”

 

It would be nice to think that EH-101 / Merlin might be in with a shout as the Norwegian Coast Guard already operate it. But they might be a bit big for the Fridtjof Nansen frigate helicopter deck.

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3 hours ago, Slater said:

As far as Norway getting their money back, I wonder if that's going to happen?

I understand the contract has not been fulfilled and those airframes delivered are being returned. There's been a major issue with delivery of spares and subsequent availability.

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I've always liked the look of the NH-90, especially the military ones, and MOST especially the splinter camouflaged ones.  It's a shame it's not up to scratch.  I read up on it the other day after reading a thread on here, and it has hardly covered itself in glory during its limited time in service :hmmm:

 

Can we have a model of it in 1:48 now please?

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The title of the thread caught my eye as the RNZAF operates NH90 and we do have a bit of a history with bad purchase decisions.

 

According to Wikipedia we have the highest hour NH90 due to the types high serviceability rate!!!! 

 

 

 

 

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47 minutes ago, Kiwidave4 said:

The title of the thread caught my eye as the RNZAF operates NH90 and we do have a bit of a history with bad purchase decisions.

 

According to Wikipedia we have the highest hour NH90 due to the types high serviceability rate!!!! 

I've not been aware of any major hassles with our ones, as Dave refers to above, they seem to be doing ok.

Must be those incredibly able Kiwi aircraft technicians. :) 

Steve.

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19 hours ago, GrahamS said:

‘Scuse my ignorance but is the NH90 related to the UK’s Merlin?

 

Graham

No, not at all.

The Merlin is a slightly older much larger 3 engine design build by Agusta Westland, now Leonardo and seems rather successful. Originally  it was designed  for Maritime  operations, in RAF hands in Afghan hot and high operations it has its fare share of problems though.... finally being handed down ( sea level hight wise!) to the Marines.

Some countries operate both types, like Italy, Norway!

 

 

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2 minutes ago, exdraken said:

No, not at all.

The Merlin is a slightly older much larger 3 engine design build by Agusta Westland, now Leonardo and seems rather successful. Originally  it was designed  for Maritime  operations, in RAF hands in Afghan hot and high operations it has its fare share of problems though.... finally being handed down ( sea level hight wise!) to the Marines.

Some counties operate both types, like Italy, Norway!

 

 

The who ....I  think you will find 845 and 846 are Royal Navy squadrons the cheek of it 😉 

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On 6/10/2022 at 3:49 PM, EwenS said:

It would be nice to think that EH-101 / Merlin might be in with a shout as the Norwegian Coast Guard already operate it. But they might be a bit big for the Fridtjof Nansen frigate helicopter deck.

 

The Norwegian Coast Guard does not operate it (the AW101). Those are purely SAR helicopters, acquired by the Department of Justice and operated by the Air Force.  The Coast Guard should have got the NH90 though, some 15 years ago.

Nils

Edited by Vingtor
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4 hours ago, junglierating said:

The who ....I  think you will find 845 and 846 are Royal Navy squadrons the cheek of it 😉 

You are of course right :)

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/the-equipment/aircraft/helicopters/merlin-mk4

"Merlin Mk4 is a new aircraft type for the Commando Helicopter Force (CHF). It will advance capability for the primary customer, The Royal Marines."

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/06/2022 at 14:10, Slater said:

Wonder if Norway has identified a replacement yet?

 

Seahawk or Wildcat are the only real options

 

On 10/06/2022 at 14:49, EwenS said:

Not yet. See the very last sentence of the announcement you linked.

”The Norwegian Defence Ministry said it will shortly begin the process of identifying an alternative maritime helicopter.”

 

It would be nice to think that EH-101 / Merlin might be in with a shout as the Norwegian Coast Guard already operate it. But they might be a bit big for the Fridtjof Nansen frigate helicopter deck.

 

Just a tad enormous! That said, they are a superb ASW platform.

 

On 10/06/2022 at 22:58, junglierating said:

Fat Lynx fat lynx Wildcat ..whoop

 

:D

 

On 11/06/2022 at 00:20, Slater said:

Seahawk?

 

Perfect, if you want an obsolete aircraft without floatation gear as your primary maritime helicopter.

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15 hours ago, Slater said:

Seahawk has definitely been around the block, but that doesn't seem to bother Australia, India, and other countries who keep placing orders.

Add Spain and Greece to this....

The Blackhawk design seems to repeat the eternal F-16 or C-130 story in rotary terms....

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HeliOps near me here in Portland (UK, not Oregon....) have announced that they will be acquiring 2 ex-German navy NH90s to replace their 2 current Sea Kings for their commercial SAR school.  If serviceability really is as low as is being said they may end up regretting that decision for a fee-paying commercial operation.  They're not earning if they're not burning and turning......

 

Wildcat would be a good bet for Norway.  Merlin/EH101 is almost certainly too big for their frigate decks but would be a good bet for the Kystvakt (coast guard) for shore-based operations.  However those Kystvakt vessels with embarked aircraft like the Nordkapp class are limited to an NH90-size aircraft and currently still operate Lynx.  So Wildcat would be a good fit here too.

 

There is the Eurocopter Panther but that is now an old design, mid-80's, and unlike the Lynx-Wildcat has not evolved fundamentally and has proved much less popular than Lynx with only 4 customers.  But as Eurocopter and NH Industries are both part of the Airbus empire maybe a Panther - NH90 swap might be a way out for both sides, with NHI refurbishing the NH90s and trying to sell them to some other unsuspecting customer.

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4 hours ago, Das Abteilung said:

HeliOps near me here in Portland (UK, not Oregon....) have announced that they will be acquiring 2 ex-German navy NH90s to replace their 2 current Sea Kings for their commercial SAR school.  If serviceability really is as low as is being said they may end up regretting that decision for a fee-paying commercial operation.  They're not earning if they're not burning and turning......

 

Wildcat would be a good bet for Norway.  Merlin/EH101 is almost certainly too big for their frigate decks but would be a good bet for the Kystvakt (coast guard) for shore-based operations.  However those Kystvakt vessels with embarked aircraft like the Nordkapp class are limited to an NH90-size aircraft and currently still operate Lynx.  So Wildcat would be a good fit here too.

 

There is the Eurocopter Panther but that is now an old design, mid-80's, and unlike the Lynx-Wildcat has not evolved fundamentally and has proved much less popular than Lynx with only 4 customers.  But as Eurocopter and NH Industries are both part of the Airbus empire maybe a Panther - NH90 swap might be a way out for both sides, with NHI refurbishing the NH90s and trying to sell them to some other unsuspecting customer.

 

That's an interesting piece of news: As far as I know the German Navy is still in the process of taking delivery of their NH-90 Sea Lions and now they are already putting them up for sale??

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3 hours ago, junglierating said:

Hmm just thought about the use of Lynx on noggy frigates will Wildcat fit ...the tail doesnt fold....theres more to consider than just the helo 

 

Easily, Wildcat is a small heli, 13.5 m (nose to tail rotor blades) with the rotors folded, nh90 is 13.6 m folded. 

 

19 minutes ago, Britman said:

I suppose a folding mod would take about three years and some daft amount of money to do. Does the Seahawk  fold down to the size of a Lynx or Wildcat?

 

Keith

 

Seahawk is 12.5 m folded. Like I've said before however, the Seahawk has no flotation gear, if you end up in the water, your day is going to be a whole lot worse in a Seahawk than a Wildcat... 

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