NHIndustries has signed an NH-90 support contract with the NATO agency NAHEMA, acting as the contracting authority on behalf of the Direction générale de l’armement (the French Armament General Directorate) and the Direction de la maintenance aéronautique (the French Aeronautics Support Directory) for the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and the BAAINBww for the German Ministry of Defence, Airbus writes in a press release. This contract is to improve the availability rates of the NH90 naval (NFH) and tactical (TTH) helicopters.

The NH90 Operational Support (NOS) contract, which will be performance-based, will see both nations delegating a major part of their logistics and maintenance activity to NHIndustries, enabling them to focus on their operations. The agreement was also designed in a way that allows additional nations to join at any time.

Through the contract, NHIndustries takes full responsibility for ensuring the continuous flow of spare parts to France and Germany through a flight-hour-based service, Airbus emphasises. The company will manage the inventories of both nations, while also allocating resources to ensure that scheduled inspections and maintenance run seamlessly.
Additionally, the contract includes a variety of catalogue services that can be activated as required by the entire community or by individual nations.

The agreement covers five years of support with two optional extensions of five years each, for a total duration of 15 years. It will serve up to 100 NH90s in France and up to 131 NH90s in Germany.

JH