Following in the footsteps of Australia and Norway, the Swedish Ministry of Defense will also retire its NH90 helicopters early and expand its Black Hawk fleet.
The Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, General Micael Bydén, published on November 1st a document setting out a roadmap for the modernization and expansion of the Armed Forces’ capabilities in view of the changing security situation in the region, coupled with the country’s new responsibilities as a recent NATO member. This document was submitted to the Swedish government for its consideration.
Replacement of NH90s and expansion of the helicopter fleet
Sweden currently has 18 helicopters in the NH90 family, of which nine are of the land-based variant (local designation HKP-14E) and nine are of the naval anti-submarine variant (the HKP-14F).
After conducting a thorough review of the performance of its NH90 helicopter fleet to determine whether it was worth investing in a modernization that would improve the ASW capabilities of the HKP-14Fs and increase the availability of the land-based HKP-14E fleet, it was decided that it was best to decommission them.
General Micael Bydén recommends replacing the HKP-14Es with new HKP 16s (local designation for the Swedish UH-60M Black Hawk) and replacing the nine NH90s with nine helicopters of a model yet to be defined.
Sweden has 15 HKP 16s, hastily purchased to compensate for recurrent delays in NH90 deliveries and operational commissioning. Contracted in 2001, the fleet of 18 HKP-14 helicopters should have been complete and fully operational by 2008, but only started to receive the first units in 2011, in initial operational configuration.
Another customer leaves
First was Australia, which was forced to ground its fleet of MRH-90 Taipan (Australian designation for the NH90) helicopters on several occasions, citing a multitude of logistical, parts quality and software problems that affected availability and flight safety. Its solution was to look for a replacement in the North American industry, selecting the UH-60 Black Hawk as the safest option.
See also: U.S. approves sale of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to Australia
Then came Norway, which, having contracted 14 naval NH90s for its Coast Guard and Navy in 2001, has received only eight units in fully operational status to date. And this reduced fleet is also experiencing availability problems.
“We have made repeated attempts to solve the problems related to the NH90 in cooperation with NHI, but more than 20 years after the contract was signed, we still do not have helicopters capable of performing the missions for which they were purchased, and without NHI being able to present us with any realistic solution“, said Gro Jære, Director General of the Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency.
Norway therefore decided to terminate the contract with NATO Helicopter Industries (NHI) and demand reimbursement of its money.
And now it is Sweden, which having experienced the same problems as Australia and Norway, is also determined to scrap its troubled helicopters and go for a proven and safe successor, such as the Black Hawk.
Following that same logic, it is not unreasonable to think that the Swedish Navy’s future anti-submarine helicopter will be the MH-60R Romeo Seahawks, which was the option also chosen by Australia.
In total, for the period 2031-2035, General Micael Bydén wants to have a force of nine naval and 27 land-based helicopters, and among them, no NH90s.
