The inevitable happened. Norway finally canceled the contract for the purchase of 14 NH90 military transport helicopters, a program managed by a NATO agency, Nahema (NATO Helicopter Management Agency), a surprise for NHIndustries, which is 62.5% Airbus, 32% Leonardo and 5.5% by belonged to the Dutch Fokker. The sword of Damocles had hung over this treaty for several months. Norway had been issuing a Request for Information (RFI) there for several months to find alternatives to its NH90 helicopters, which it said it could not meet all of the country’s Coast Guard requirements and which have low rate availability, the Achilles’ heel of this European helicopter .
Oslo’s malevolence
In this story, all players, starting with Norway, have shown extreme bad faith, but the manufacturer, NHIndustries, and its two main shareholders, Leonardo and Airbus Helicopters, are not free from allegations. To abandon a program still in the process of being finalized, Norway had to be seduced by an American or even Italian offer, we explain to La Tribune. However, the Norwegian Navy has already received 13 of the 14 NH90s ordered in 2001, with the 14th ready for delivery. “We were close to finalizing the main aspect of the original contract,” NHIndustries said in a press release.
At a press conference, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram said: “Unfortunately, we have come to the conclusion that regardless of the number of hours worked by our technicians and the number of spare parts ordered, the NH90 will not be operational to meet the needs of the Norwegian Army”. This is by no means the opinion of Lt. Col. Jan Egil Rekstad, commander of the 334 Squadron, who assessed in Teknisk Ukebla magazine last December that the NH90 brings really valuable new capabilities Chasing a submarine or rescuing someone from the sea.
For his part, union leader Torbjørn Bongo of the Norwegian Officers’ Union said he was surprised by the defense minister’s announcement. Torbjørn Bongo has always been skeptical about terminating the contract, believing that a significant part of the problem is internal to the armed forces. “You can’t expect to have spare parts in stock if nobody has ordered them or doesn’t have the money for them,” he explained specifically. In its press release, NHI also regretted that it had not “had the opportunity to discuss the latest proposals to improve the availability of the NH90 in Norway and to respond to specific requests” from the Scandinavian kingdom. This suggests that the Minister definitely wanted to get rid of the NH90s and blamed NHIndustries exclusively.
Norway wants to return the 13 delivered helicopters and is also demanding reimbursement of 5 billion crowns (around 500 million euros), the defense minister announced. Not sure if the industrialists allow themselves that. We have recently seen Airbus being very combative and unyielding, for example in its dispute with the European aircraft manufacturer over coating problems on its A350s to the claims of one of its major commercial aviation customers, Qatar Airways. Norway could embark on a judicial marathon. Especially since the manufacturers claim that the cancellation of the contract is “without legal basis”. In its press release, NHIndustries “refutes the allegations made against the NH90 and the company.” The fight has only just begun.
bad faith of manufacturers
The fact remains that the NH90 has a real availability problem associated with difficult maintenance in service (MCO). In France, the Minister of Defense Airbus Helicopters had clearly signaled earlier this year that “better results” were needed on the availability of the French Navy’s NH90 Caiman helicopters. This MCO issue is known and identified. In Norway, therefore, NHIndustries should have tackled this availability problem, which has persisted for years, much more effectively. However, the complexity of the NH90’s MRO is compounded by the fact that this program brings together two manufacturers within NHIndustries that compete in the NH90 markets.
Thus, Leonardo, who is responsible for the MCO of the Norwegian aircraft (6 NFH/ASW for the Royal Norwegian Navy and 8 NFH for the Coast Guard), would not have played the game really thoroughly, it is estimated. We also give the Italian industrialist an ulterior motive to sell the AW101 Merlin in place of the NH90 and reissue a new recording in Norway. In 2013 the AW101 Merlin, competing against the NH90 to replace the 12 Sea King Mk-43s, was selected by the Norwegian Navy. A complex and explosive file when feedback shows some didn’t get the job done…
