The German Navy’s NH90 Sea Lion naval multi-role helicopter completed its maiden flight at Airbus Helicopters in Donauwörth, Germany, the company said Thursday.
The NH90 features an increased number of sensors, fly-by-wire controls, improved navigation and communications equipment, and an updated military friend/foe identification system.
The Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) ordered a total of 18 Sea Lions intended to replace its Sea King Mk41 helicopter fleet and operate on Type 702 (Berlin-class) combat support ships while enhancing naval abilities beyond the Sea King. The NH-90 will conduct missions including search and rescue (SAR), maritime reconnaissance, special forces, and personnel and material transportation.
“We need to keep to a tight schedule if we are to replace the Sea King in time. This requires all those participating in the project to coordinate quickly and efficiently to achieve this,” Ralph Herzog, Director in the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), said in a statement.
“We are proud to be delivering this state-of-the-art naval helicopter to the German Armed Forces on time. This new generation of NH90 naval helicopters, the Sea Lion, has benefited from experience gathered by other countries who have been using it,” Wolfgang Schoder, CEO of Airbus Helicopters Deutschland, added.
The German Navy expects a successful test phase for the helicopter and is already preparing with technical and flight personnel training. Further measures have commenced at the NH90s’s future home at the Nordholz naval air base, with infrastructural and new building changes necessary, the company said.
“The Navy is looking forward, as the first customer, to be receiving the NH90 Sea Lion on time by the end of 2019,” Vice Adm. Andreas Krause, Chief of the German Navy, said.
Final deliveries of the NH90 to the German navy are set to begin at the end of 2019. The 18th and final unit is set to go into service in 2022.
The second Sea Lion awaiting qualification testing is currently in the final assembly stage and series production at the Donauwörth facility will start in the summer of 2017.
Airbus highlighted that five other countries currently use the naval NH90 NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH). Their 69 total helicopters have completed over 30,000 flying hours in humanitarian, SAR, and military missions on both land and naval vessels.
A total of 129 NH90 NFH helicopters have been ordered globally, with 515 NH90 models of all kinds ordered overall. The general NH90 fleet currently includes 296 delivered helicopters that have completed over 120,000 flying hours.