The Norwegian Ministry of Defense made the decision to cancel the NHIndustries contract and return its NH90 helicopters, given the low reliability of the model and the delay in deliveries. In addition, it will demand a full refund of its investment.
“Regrettably we have reached the conclusion that no matter how many hours our technicians work, and how many parts we order, it will never make the NH90 capable of to meeting the requirements of the Norwegian Armed Forces. Based on a joint recommendation by the Armed Forces and associated departments and agencies, the Norwegian Government has therefore decided to end the introduction of the NH90 and has authorized the Norwegian Defense Material Agency to terminate the contract”, said Norwegian Minister of Defence, Mr. Bjørn Arild Gram.
As explained in the Norwegian Ministry of Defence press release, the acquisition of the NH90 began in 2001, with fourteen helicopters for Coast Guard and Anti-Submarine Warfare duties originally slated for delivery by the end of 2008. As of today, only eight have been delivered in a fully operational configuration. The fleet is currently required to provide 3.900 flight hours annually but in recent years it has averaged only about seven hundred hours.
The Norwegian Defense Material Agency has subsequently informed the manufacturer of the NH90, NATO Helicopter Industries (NHI), that it has terminated the contract in its entirety, and that it will be seeking full restitution of all funds and assets received by both parties.
Not even the recent agreement between Airbus Helicopters (part owner of NHI) and Kongsberg, which was to look at ways to improve the availability of the Norwegian NH90 fleet, could dissuade Oslo from this decision.
See also: Airbus and Kongsberg signed a collaboration agreement to support the Norwegian NH90 fleet
The Agency will now begin preparations to return the helicopters along with the spare parts and equipment received.
It will also seek reimbursement from NHI, which will include the 5 billion NOK (approximately USD 517 million) it has paid under the contract, plus interest and other expenses.
“We have made repeated attempts at resolving the problems related to the NH90 in cooperation with NHI, but more than 20 years after the contract was signed, we still don’t have helicopters capable of performing the missions for which they were bought, and without NHI being able to present us with any realistic solutions”, said Gro Jære, Director General of the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency.
The Norwegian Ministry of Defence in February 2022 requested that the Armed Forces, along with the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency and the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, conduct a comprehensive review of Norway’s maritime helicopter capabilities. The review concluded that even with significant additional financial investments, it would not be possible to bring the performance and availability of the NH90 to a level that would meet Norwegian requirements.
Legal battle on the horizon
NHIndustries also issued a press release stating that it is “extremely disappointed by the decision taken by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence and refutes the allegations being made against the NH90 as well as against the Company”.
They also charge that they did not receive a chance to discuss the latest proposal made to improve NH90 availability in Norway.
Finally, NHIndustries warns that considers this termination to be legally groundless.
Another blow for NHIndustries
There is a history of deep customer dissatisfaction with the performance and availability delivered by NH90s, to the point of reducing orders or withdrawing models early from service.
Until now, the hardest slap in NHI’s face had been the Australian one. Faced with the recurrent low availability of its NH90 fleet (called MRH-90 Taipan in Australia), the Army has decided to cut its orders and give the model an early retirement, replacing it with the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk.
See also: Australian Army seeks to replace its troubled MRH-90 Taipan with Black Hawks
Other NH90 users, over the years complained about low availability of their helicopters, corrosion problems in the airframes, low cabin ceilings, etc.
Norway’s intention to terminate the NHI contract would validate the Australian complaints and has the potential to set a legal precedent for other dissatisfied customers to raise their claims in more peremptory terms.
