Airbus Helicopters has delivered the first NH90 of the second batch of 23 helicopters to the Directorate General of Armament and Material (DGAM) at its facility in Albacete, Spain. This is the first NH90 in the Standard 3 configuration for the Spanish Air and Space Force. This second batch, which includes 23 NH90 helicopters, foresees the delivery of a total of 16 Standard 3 helicopters, ten of which will equip the Spanish Army Air Mobile Forces (FAMET), while six will go to the Air and Space Force. The Spanish Navy will receive seven navalised helicopters. Deliveries will be staggered from December 2024 to 2028. The first NH90 for the Spanish Navy in tactical transport version (MSPT) is in the process of finalising its Type Certificate from the Spanish Airworthiness Authority and is already in Albacete awaiting its final delivery to the DGAM in the coming weeks. The Spanish Navy personnel, belonging to the 14th Squadron, have already started their training at the Albacete plant to begin operations with their first NH90.
“We are proud to be supporting our armed forces with these new state-of-the-art NH90s that will create a standardised modern fleet across all three armed forces. We have contributed to these benchmark airborne forces with a helicopter that offers a world-class operational capability to the Spanish Armed Forces. The upcoming addition of the NH90 in the Spanish Navy is a definitive step in the modernisation and Airbus Helicopters will be ready to respond to the needs of the Spanish customer,” said Fernando Lombo, Managing Director of Airbus Helicopters in Spain.
The new NH90 for the Spanish Air Force is the first NH90 in the Standard 3 configuration. It offers more advanced communications with enhanced encryption capabilities, greater operational safety features and a number of system optimisations. For its part, the MSPT will significantly increase the Spanish Navy’s strategic projection capabilities thanks to new onboard equipment such as a reinforced landing gear, a maximum take-off weight of up to 11 tonnes, and the automatic folding of the main rotor blades and rear fuselage. A total of 523 NH90s have already been delivered to 13 different countries and have accumulated nearly 420,000 flight hours. Spain, for its part, has 15 helicopters in service with the FAMET, known as ‘Sarrios’, while the Spanish Air and Space Force has six NH90 ‘Lobo’ in operation. Both have been involved in the relief efforts following the passage of the Dana in Valencia.
NHIndustries (NHI) is a helicopter manufacturing company specifically established to be NATO Helicopter Management Agency’s prime contractor for the design and development, industrialisation, production and logistic support of the NHIndustries NH90 series of helicopters. Established in 1992, NHIndustries was formed as a partnership between Eurocopter of France and Germany (now Airbus Helicopters), Agusta of Italy (now Leonardo) and Stork Fokker Aerospace of the Netherlands (now Fokker Aerostructures). Once fabricated, items are shipped from these companies to the six final assembly facilities, at Marignane, France; Tessera, Italy; Donauwörth, Germany; Halli, Finland; and Brisbane, Australia.
