A German Army (Heer) Airbus NH90 TTH helicopter, displaying at RAF Fairford on the Saturday of The Royal International Air Tattoo 2022.

The NH90 - NH stands for 'NATO Helicopter' - was formerly a product of the NHIndustries conglomerate, which is now part of Airbus Helicopters. This multi-role machine is available in two main versions, the TTH (Tactical Transport Helicopter) and NFH (NATO Frigate Helicopter). Developed as a partnership between France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and later Portugal, the NH90 first flew in 1995 and eventually entered service in 2007. Currently 13 nations operate an NH90 variant however its development has not been without trouble with the 14th nation - Norway - already retiring their helicopters.

The German Army were the first NH90 customer to receive their aircraft with deliveries beginning in 2006 and has ordered 82 NH90 TTH in total. The TTH variant is used by the German Army as a troop transport being able to carry up to 20 fully equipped troops. The German Navy also operates two versions of the NH90 based on the NFH called the Sea Lion and Sea Tiger. The forward and centre fuselages, fuel system, communications, and avionics control systems of the NH90 are also produced in Germany and final assembly is split between six locations throughout Europe.

Following their popular RIAT debut in 2022, the German Army are once again sending a pair of NH90s to RIAT 2023 to appear in both the flying and static display. Both helicopters will be provided by the Tactical Helicopter Regiment 10 (TrspHubschrRgt 10) based at Faßberg.

The objective of the multinational NATO Helicopter (NHNATO-Helicopter) 90 project was to develop a helicopter family of the nine-to-eleven ton class for transport and navy operations. The development program was initiated by the four founding nations France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany.

Starting from a common baseline helicopter, two basic versions were developed: a navy helicopter (NFHNato Frigate Helicopter NATO frigate helicopter) and a transport helicopter (TTHTactical Transport Helicopter tactical transport helicopter). Requirements of the participating nations deviating from the baseline helicopter are commissioned as national helicopter variants.

The German Army uses the NH90 mainly for tactical transport, search and rescue operations. In addition, it is possible to conduct maritime flights and self-deployments across large distances and to realise the roles of convoy protection/self-protection if the helicopter is equipped with the necessary equipment packages.

In 2013 and 2014, four NH90 were successfully employed as forward air medical evacuation helicopters in Afghanistan.

Since early 2017, the NH90 has also been used successfully in Mali.

The German Navy will primarily use the NH90 NTHNaval Transport Helicopter Sea Lion for the following tasks: tactical transport of personnel (including special forces and specialized forces) and material, sea surveillance, military and civilian search and rescue operations over sea, (medical) evacuation and boarding. The NTHNaval Transport Helicopter Sea Lion will operate over sea both from aboard the class 702 combat support ship and from ashore.

The NH90 is driven by two turboshaft engines with mixed radial and axial compressor and a four-blade rotor and is equipped with fly-by-wire flight control.

It offers a high degree of habitability due to a low level of vibration, good noise attenuation and air-conditioning. One-pilot operation is possible under all operational conditions.
The NH90 is operational both during the day and at night under all weather conditions, even in the case of icing.
The high degree of reliability and availability of the helicopter is accompanied by an equally high degree of maintainability.
Special mention should also be made of the helicopter’s reduced vulnerability and detectability as well as its tremendous growth potential.

Video and Audio content is
Copyright © High Flight

This video and audio material may not be reproduced in any form (except as the videos Youtube embedded video option on any other website), without written permission.