The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) announced on 26 July 2024, on the penultimate day of the Farnborough International Airshow (FIA), that it has downselected Airbus Helicopters, Lockheed Martin Sikorsky and Leonardo for 13-month study contracts under NATO’s Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) Concept Study 5/Integrated Platform Concepts effort.
The aim of the NGRC project, which was launched in November 2020, is to respond to the fact that a significant amount of the medium multi-role assets currently in service across NATO allies, all of which are all based on designs dating back to the previous century, will reach the end of their life cycle in the 2035-40 period and beyond, with the subsequent need for replacements.
The NSPA stated that the three chosen contractors “will provide valuable, independent perspectives on potential integrated platform concepts that can meet the NGRC challenge, aiming to identify and exploit cutting-edge technologies to meet the NGRC operational and supportability capabilities, as well as seeking innovation in digital design and development processes and advanced materials and manufacturing”.
Stacy A Cummings, the NSPA’s general manager, was quoted in an agency press release as saying, “The launch of Concept Study #5 is a significant milestone for the NGRC concept stage activities and demonstrates NSPA’s dedication to meet the challenge of next-generation medium lift for participating nations. The strategy to launch three parallel contracts awarded by competition delivers on our commitment to maximise industry expertise, opportunity and engagement in the programme and will provide a broad range of potential concepts in the study results for our multinational customers.”
France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland and Italy are involved in the NGRC programme via the different partner companies. Each partner will contribute to the study in its area of expertise: helicopter design, systems integration, connectivity, weapons and effectors, avionics and sensors. The study will focus on high-performance rotorcraft, while the concepts will be modular, multi-mission and fully interoperable with NATO standards, with a high degree of connectivity and a resilient communication system, according to the NSPA.
