NHI celebrated today the Initial Operational Capability of the Belgian NH90s.

This event took place today in the NHI pavilion in presence of Colonel Dejaeger Commander of the Air Component of Belgium and the NHI Directoire.

After having ordered 4 Tactical Transport NH90s and 4 Naval NH90s and proceeded to the training of its aircrews, Belgium has declared the initial operational capability of its four MTH (Medium Transport Helicopters) in May 2015.
Meanwhile NHI prepares the delivery of the last Belgian NH90NFH.

“This IOC milestone means that Belgium is today able to deploy the NH90 anytime, anywhere and we are very proud of that, we reaffirm here our commitment to support Belgian Armed forces throughout the lifespan of this outstanding helicopter” declared Vincent Dubrule President of NHIndustries.

“As of today more than 240 NH90s are delivered to 13 nations, they surpassed the 80 000 flight hours mark with very good results in operations, the crews particularly appreciate the agility and the versatility of this helicopter compared to previous generation platforms, this is the result of our hard work and we are proud to provide our customers the capability they need” added Vittorio Della Bella, Managing Director of NHIndustries.

The NH90 is the optimal choice for modern operations thanks to its large full composite airframe, its excellent power to weight ratio; and its wide range of rôle equipment. It features a redundant Fly-by-Wire flight control system for reduced Pilot’s workload and enhanced flight characteristics.

The NH90 is proposed in two main variants, one dedicated to naval operations, the NH90NFH (Nato Frigate Helicopter) and a Tactical Transport Variant for land based operations. As of today, around 245 helicopters have been delivered in Naval and Tactical transport variants. They are in service in Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Greece, Oman, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand.

The twin-engine, medium-size NH90 helicopter program is managed by the consortium NHIndustries, the Company owned by AgustaWestland (32%), Airbus Helicopters (62.5%), and Fokker (5.5%).