Qatar to acquire 28 NH90 military helicopters and 16 Airbus H125 training helicopters
Qatar has signed a contract to acquire 28 NH90 military helicopters in two configurations as well as 16 H125 light helicopters in a deal valued at more than €3 billion ($3.7 billion).
The package includes 16 NH90s in tactical transport configuration, 12 NH90s in naval configuration, and 16 Airbus H125 light single-engine helicopters in training configuration for the Qatar Armed Forces Air Academy, a Wednesday, March 14 Airbus press release said.
The NH90 was developed and is built by NHIndustries, a joint venture between Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo and Fokker Aerostructures.
Leonardo is the prime contractor responsible for the Qatar program management and for the final assembly and delivery of the 12 NH90s in naval configuration, while Airbus will assemble and deliver the 16 tactical transport configured aircraft.
The deal for the NH90s is valued at more than €3 billion and includes a comprehensive support and services package, as well as associated infrastructure, Leonardo said in a press release.
The program could be further extended with the addition of 12 units in a mix of variants, Leonardo said.
Deliveries are expected to start before June 2022 and to continue through to 2025.
The twin-engine, medium-size NH90 helicopter was developed to fulfil NATO requirements for a battlefield helicopter that would also be suited to naval environments. It was the first production helicopter to use fly-by-wire control. The two main variants, are the Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) for army use, and the NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH) for naval operations.
According to Airbus, the contract brings the order book for the helicopter to 543, with 350 aircraft delivered to 20 customers in 13 countries.
