Presentation Made In Ceremony At Paris Air Show
NHIndustries and its consortium partners, Eurocopter,
AgustaWestland and Stork Fokker, handed over the first NH90 to the
Swedish Air Force on Wednesday at its Static Display at the 2007
Paris Air Show.
Accepting the aircraft on behalf of the Swedish Ministry of
Defense was Brigadier General Arne Heden, Director of Air and Space
of the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration.
Sweden is the launch customer of the High Cabin Version (HCV) of
the NH90 which features an increased usable cabin height allowing
operators and passengers to stand upright in the cabin. Sweden had
signed the contract for 25 NH90 in September 2001, covering 18 firm
orders for 13 TTT / SAR helicopters and five ASW variants, plus
seven options, according to Eurocopter.
The TTT (Tactical Troop Transport) / SAR (Search and Rescue) and
ASW (anti-submarine warfare) variants are derived from the NAHEMA
TTH (Tactical Transport Helicopter) version of the NH90, and are
equipped with a complete new Tactical Mission System (TMS)
developed by SAAB in cooperation with NHIndustries. The increased
cabin height is particularly important in SAR missions.
At the delivery ceremony, Lutz Bertling, President and CEO of
Eurocopter, declared: "I am very pleased to be handing over this
aircraft to Sweden today. Cooperation with the Swedish authorities
and Swedish industry is excellent, and I would like to extend my
thanks to all parties involved. We owe Sweden the new, high-cabin
version of the NH90 which offers additional headroom while
maintaining maximum commonality with the standard aircraft."
The NH90 is a latest-technology, twin-engine helicopter in the
medium-size class. It has been designed from the outset as a
multi-role weapons system. The tactical transport (TTH) and naval
(NFH) variants of the helicopter share a common basic helicopter in
a modular design.
Dedicated, specialized mission equipment packages allow for
maximum flexibility in operations. Special emphasis has been placed
on features such as safety, reliability, availability,
maintainability, testability and supportability. The diamond shape
of the all composite, corrosion-free airframe combines optimal
aerodynamics with low detectability.
Optimized man-machine interface significantly reduces pilot and
crew workload. The NH90's superior handling qualities are enhanced
by a fly-by-wire flight control system, making it the first
production helicopter in the world to feature this advanced
technology. The NH90 is qualified for day-and-night, all-weather
operations.