The French Navy took delivery of its 15th NH90 NFH “Caiman Marine” helicopter.
This event took place in Marignane at the Airbus Helicopters facilities where the helicopter was built in presence of representatives of the French Navy and the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA).
This helicopter is the first aircraft delivered in the Final Radar Configuration standard (FRC).
In this standard, the NH90 NFH “Caiman” offers increased radar performances in rough sea while the mission system is fitted with an advanced sonar for enhanced submarine detection and classification. The addition of a Digital Map Generator facilitates the mission preparation and execution.
The French Navy has ordered 27 NH90 NFH. This new generation helicopter is designed to perform a wide range of missions from anti-submarine warfare to anti-surface warfare, search and rescue, maritime surveillance, and special operations including counter terrorism and anti- piracy.
The French Navy currently uses all the capabilities of the NH90 NFH complex weapon system including an acoustic suite, a sonar, an ESM sensor, a Chaff and Flare system, an Electro Optic suite, a multimode naval radar, as well as a new generation MU90 Torpedo.
The NH90 is the optimal choice for modern operations thanks to its large full composite airframe, its excellent power to weight ratio; and its wide range of rôle equipment. It features a redundant Fly-by-Wire flight control system for reduced Pilot’s workload and enhanced flight characteristics.
The NH90 is proposed in two main variants, one dedicated to naval operations, the NH90NFH (Nato Frigate Helicopter) and a Tactical Transport Variant for land based operations. As of today, 249 helicopters have been delivered in Naval and Tactical transport variants. A total of more than 95000 flight hours have been achieved. The NH90 is operated in Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Greece, Oman, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand.
The twin-engine, medium-size NH90 helicopter program is managed by the consortium NHIndustries, the Company owned by AgustaWestland (32%), Airbus Helicopters (62.5%), and Fokker (5.5%).
