Deliveries of NHIndustries NH90 helicopters to the Italian Navy are complete, Italian programme contributor Leonardo announced on 2 October 2023.
In all, 56 Italian NH90s have been delivered: 46 SH-90 naval variants for anti-submarine warfare/anti-surface warfare and 10 MH-90s for land-based tactical transport.
The last aircraft delivered was an SH-90A, which was deployed to the Italian Navy’s Maristaeli Luni Base and accepted at an official ceremony on 29 September.
The first Italian NH90 was delivered in 2011, since which time the Italian fleet has logged more than 35,000 flight hours in Italy and on international operations.
NHIndustries, the joint venture that builds the NH90, is owned by Airbus Helicopters (62.5%), Leonardo (32%) and GKN Fokker (5.5%).
The aircraft is available in two main variants: the NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH), which is specified for naval operations; and the Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH), which is for land-based operations.
More than 500 helicopters, a mixture of both variants, have been delivered worldwide by the NH90 programme, making it Europe’s largest helicopter programme, but the type’s overall history has been somewhat troubled.
Many fleets were delivered years behind schedule and the aircraft has also been criticised in relation to its performance and flying costs.
In June 2020 a Belgian defence review decided that its four TTH helicopters would be phased out by 2024 due to their high operating costs and low availability, although four NFH variants will remain operational.
In June 2022 the Norwegian Ministry of Defence announced that it would terminate its NH90 contract due to NHI not meeting contractual obligations and that its NH90 fleet would be taken out of operation.
The Australian Defence Force, which calls its NH90s MRH-90 Taipans, announced on 29 September 2023 that, after suffering a number of mishaps, its NH90 fleet would not return to service before its planned withdrawal date of December 2024.
Meanwhile, Egypt, Portugal and Saudi Arabia have all cancelled NH90 orders for various reasons.
