NH 90 – A European Helicopter Program carried out within NATO Scope

Siegfried Krohn

A few months before the fielding of the 1st German helicopter of the LTH/Army variant this article is meant to describe the current state of the program and, in doing so, to let this NATO project pass in review. It is a program, which has set a high standard both in political and industrial respects. It has proven that there indeed exists the capability among several nations to harmonize military requirements and that the European industry is efficient enough to translate these requirements into reality within an adequate scope in regard to time and money.
This joint program contributes to a reduction of the large variety of types and, in consequence of this standardization, increases among other things the interoperability and communality between the national armed forces. This considerable standardization potential in the 10-ton class will lead to a reduction of costs in the use of helicopters. In addition, it will positively influence the cooperation on not only the European level.
Projects of the volume of the NH 90 program can no longer be executed as pure national projects. On the one hand, this is due to the considerable requirements of budgetary funds for the development of such a weapon system and the smaller number of units ordered in national procurement and, on the other hand, it is because of improved possibilities for exports with a program shared between the most important »players« in the European area.
A joint program requires substantial efforts in the harmonization of military requirements, however. With the present concept this was successfully achieved between the four founder nations Germany, France, Italy, and The Netherlands. This is all the more remarkable as it is here about the requirements of three services, i.e. the Army, Air Force, and Navy. That this concept has worked out is demonstrated by the fact that countries like Portugal (now a partner in the quintolateral NATO program), Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Greece are able to meet their requirements with this.
The introduction of the NH 90 will ensure the capabilities of the German armed forces in the task spectrum »crisis response capability, improvement of mobility, establishment of the evacuation capability, and armed air rescue« which cannot – or only insufficiently – be realized with the present weapon systems. Aside from these capabilities, the operating costs are gaining in importance. By replacing obsolete weapon systems and reducing the variety of types at the same time, it will be possible to lower these costs.

Project Basics

On the basis of the harmonized tactical/ operational and technical/logistical requirements of the armed forces in the partner nations a development agreement was concluded in 1992 whose objective was the development of two versions:

A Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) and A NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH).

Based on this development, the series preparation and series production of different variants was ordered in the year 2000. These variants on the basis of the two versions TTH and NFH reflect the different national requirements. For Germany, three variants of the TTH version were ordered which included the »T 1« Army variant (LTH/ Army) and the two Air Force variants » T 2« (LTH/SAR) and »T 4« (LTH/SAR Enhanced). The »T 4« Air Force variant will be used as a basis for the »T 7« variant, which will suit the purpose of Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR). After the still pending decision of the German Parliament, the Bundestag, within the scope of a 25 million Euro bill, this additional variant will be ordered by means of an amending contract to the series agreement.

Requirements

Demand
The intended and/or committed demand for helicopters among the program nations figures as follows (basis for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)):

Of these, the following helicopters have been ordered with the industry:

By procuring the TTH variants, Germany links the replacement of the Bell UH-1D and »Cougar« helicopters – the latter one had been procured in just three copies and was meant as an interim solution only. With the procurement of the NFH variant it combines the replacement of the Mk 88 Sea Lynx as well as the Mk 41 Sea King. As for the concerns of Army, Air Force, and Navy Germany is thus going to receive variants derived from a basic model. These operational advantages will become noticeable in the logistical support, in the training, and in the improved interoperability with the allies.

Tasks
The main tasks of the TTH are:

• Tactical airlifts of personnel and materiel,
  
• SAR over land and sea,
  
• Tactical operational support of combat units,
  
• Transport support in deployments,
  
• Transportation/evacuation of wounded, injured, and sick personnel,
  
• Disaster control and relief operations,
  
• VIP flights.
  

The main tasks of the NFH, which need to be distinguished between ship-based and ground-based tasks, are as follows:

• Antisubmarine operations,
  
• Sea surveillance/maritime patrol and reconnaissance missions (ship-based),
  
• Acquisition/determination and transmission of target data (ship-based and ground-based),
  
• Engagement of light surface forces/anti-surface warfare (ground-based),
  
• Electronic warfare (ship-based and ground-based),
  
• Search and rescue operations (ground-based),
  
• Transport of materiel/personnel (ship-based and ground-based).

The task spectrum comprises missions during the day, night, and adverse weather conditions, independent of fixed bases. Active and passive protective measures for the crew and vital parts of the helicopter guarantee a high probability of survival in case of a crash and in threat situations.

Technical Characteristics and Specifications
The technical design of the helicopter is decisively determined by its use as a multipurpose helicopter with a maximum of flexibility/convertibility for all conceivable missions. Here, even a possible later civilian use of the helicopter was taken into account. The technological standard was chosen in a way that allowed to develop on the one hand a modern, multiple-use helicopter presently not available on the market and, on the other hand, to make a cost-efficient employment and operation possible.
The main technical characteristics are:

• Large-volume cabin in fiber sandwich construction/laminated structure,
  
• High flight comfort through low vibration level, noise insulation, and an air conditioning system,
  
• Crash-proven underfloor fuel tanks,
  
• Retractable landing gear with high energy absorption,
  
• Flight steering and control system in fly-by-wire technology,
  
• Redundant layout of all vital systems,
  
• Electrical deicing of rotor blades,
  
• Ergonomic cockpit design through LCD technology and multifunction display devices,
  
• Bus-oriented avionics system,
  
• Equipment for all-weather and night missions close to terrain surface (digital map, forward looking infrared (FLIR), obstacle warning system),
  
• Electronic warfare (EW) equipment (radar/ laser/missile warning system and chaff/flare dispenser),
  
• Auxiliary power unit (APU) for autonomous engine start,
  
• Tail boom, foldable,
  
• Tail section prepared for ramp,
  
• Mission takeoff weight (TTH): 10 tons,
  
• Maximum speed: 284 km/h,
  
• Range with 2-ton payload: > 300 km.

The basic equipment of the TTH consists of the following components: troop seats for 16 soldiers, pylon for external loads, lifting hook, rescue and transport winch, weather radar, emergency flotation gear, sinking protection, armored pilot seats, cable deflector.
The basic equipment of the NFH comprises these components: advanced avionics for antisubmarine missions such as diving sonar and sonar buoys, 360-degree radar, system for reconnaissance (electronic support measures (ESM) – system), torpedo armament, automatic folding of tail section, automatic full-blade folding, rescue and transport winch, pylon for external loads, lifting hook, in-flight refueling while hovering, deck security, emergency floating gear, armored pilot seats.
The MH 90 is capable of assuming different mission roles. This is made possible by instant mounting and dismounting of conversion kits.

Variants of the NH 90
Derived from the TTH and NFH versions are the variants, which cover special national requirements. With the series agreement the five NAHEMO (NATO Helicopter Management Organization) – nations involved in the project have ordered a total of nine variants (six TTH variants and three NFH variants). At present, Germany has ordered three variants – one Army and two Air Force variants – of which one serves as a basis for Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR).
The CSAR variant is the advanced development of the LTH/SAR for special missions such as rescue and retrieval of shot-down or emergency-landed pilots. Its key facilities are:

• In-flight refueling to increase the range,
  
• STINGER air-to-air guided missiles for self-protection,
  
• MIDS link 16 to improve the command capability,
  
• Satellite communication SATCOM,
  
• Capability to locate shot-down or emergency-landed pilots.

It is planned to provide 23 LTH/SAR with this basic CSAR capability, which, in particular cases, are to receive the final CSAR capability by means of adaptation kits of which eight kits are to be procured. This variant which is considered an essential element in the implementation of the military requirements will, after the completion of the contract negotiations with NATO Helicopter Industries (NHI), still be the issue of a 25 million Euro parliamentary bill. The delivery of the first CSAR-capable helicopter is planned for 2009.
Another variant which still needs to be ordered is the MH 90 naval helicopter as a replacement for the Sea Lynx and Sea King models and as a helicopter for the F 124 Class frigates, which are being introduced now. The MH 90 is to be primarily employed on the frigate in order to enhance as an important sensor and weapons carrier the full operational capability of the F 124 weapon system. Starting with a procurement of 38 MH 90 over a period of approx. eleven years, the delivery of the first helicopter is planned for 2007. This, however, requires the signing of a contract with a delivery time of three years in still 2004 and along with that a respective parliamentary procurement decision.
In addition to these requirements of the international program, there are further national German requirements, which were not yet possible to be commissioned in the international development and/or procurement program. To be mentioned here are above all the mission equipment packages of the Army in the fields of standoff-capable reconnaissance, command control and active electronic countermeasures (ECM), which are yet to be defined.

Program Organization

Both the industrial and the governmental side have established joint organizations for the implementation of the program. These organizations are the contract parties in the NH 90 program.

Industrial Organization: The legally independent contractor, the NATO Helicopter Industries (NHI), with registered office in Aix-en-Provence has been commissioned with the international development and procurement of the NH 90. Partners of this company are »Eurocopter Germany«, »Eurocopter France«, »Agusta«, and »Fokker«. NHI acts as general contractor for the program nations and is responsible for the program management. In addition, NHI markets the NH 90 helicopter beyond the boundaries of the program nations. According to the work share determined in the procurement MoU the partners’ shares under the scheme of distribution are as follows: Eurocopter Germany: 31.25 %; Eurocopter France: 31.25 %; Agusta: 32 %; and Fokker: 5.5 %.
Governmental Organization: For the purpose of program implementation, the nations Germany, France, Italy, and The Netherlands have founded the NATO Helicopter Design & Development, Production and Logistics Management Agency (NAHEMA). NAHEMA is responsible to the »NH 90 Steering Committee« which is supported by the »Joint Executive Committee (JEC)«. Members of this JEC are the national project managers, which rotate annually in the chairmanship of this committee. Although NAHEMA is vested with extensive powers, it was provided with rather scarce personnel resources from the very beginning. This resulted in the fact that NAHEMA is dependent on a strong support by the nations. The nations support NAHEMA in the execution of the tasks by a system of numerous technical, operational/ logistical and administrative working groups under the direction of NAHEMA and attain in this way the correlation between NAHEMA and the nations.

Program Flow

The history of the NH 90 program is characterized by diverse developments both on the national and international side, which date back to the early 1980s. Before it was possible in June 1991 to sign a MoU for an international development, many stumbling blocks had to be removed. The discussion about the size of the cell for the TTH and/or NFH version is cited here as an example for these obstacles. The TTH version would actually have required a higher cell. This was not possible to bring into line with the requirements for the height of a naval helicopter for the employment on frigates, however. Here, the height was clearly a determining factor. The fact that it was still possible to reach an agreement in this question shows on the one hand the willingness of the nations to forge a joint program and on the other hand the necessity for economic solutions even at the cost of a non-optimal solution.
One year later, in April 1992, the development contract for the above stated TTH and NFH versions were signed. The development contract was concluded at a fixed price, which is subject to price escalation. Within the framework of the development contract, five prototypes (PT) were built and used in different tests:

• PT 1 for basic flight tests (first flight: 12/1995),
  
• PT 2 for the testing of the fly-by-wire system and automatic blade folding (first flight: 03/1997),
  
• PT 3 for the testing of the basic avionics system (first flight: 11/1998),
  
• PT 4 for testing the mission equipment of the TTH variant (first flight: 05/1999) and
  
• PT 5 for testing the mission equipment of the NFH variant (first flight: 12/1999).
  

One of the laws in complex projects seems to be the fact that a phase overlap between development and procurement is inevitable. This is also the case with this project. On the one hand, the development originating from the 1992 development contract was not completed yet, and on the other hand, a »national customization« was essential and absolutely necessary. Among other things, this national customization concerns the following equipment: communication means to allow a cross-sectional use of radio devices in a national scope; crash recorder; obstacle warning device as well as external tanks. This overlapping involves a certain risk and is covered in the series contract by guarantees for particularly important performance features.
After a lengthy process the four nations Germany, France, Italy and The Netherlands reached an agreement on procurement MoU. In June 2000 they concluded a series preparation/series contract (Production Investment& Production – PI&P) with NHI on the procurement of 298 helicopters at a fixed price subject to price escalation. Of these, Germany ordered 30 Army helicopters and 24 Air Force helicopters, respectively; and Italy ordered optionally one helicopter. In June 2001, Portugal joined NAHEMO and signed at the same time the supplement to the PI&P contract on the procurement of ten helicopters of a Portuguese TTH variant.
The development has been completed in many fields. Development efforts are still necessary in respect to the mission equipment for both the TTH variants and the NFH variants. The actual expenditure of time which is also time-critical lies in the »qualification reviews« that are yet to be conducted. This will result in a postponement of the delivery of the first German Army helicopter.

Helicopter Delivery

Workshare: The allocation to the partner companies involved is effected in accordance with the principles of the existing specialization on the industrial side and the quantitative national apportionment of the respective pro rata development financing with due regard to a balanced quantitative share. Possible imbalances in the workshare will be subject matter of the procurement projects to be carried out, of the training means, and in the subsequent service phase. The allotment of the major components to the partner companies is as follows:

Eurocopter Germany:
Forepart and intermediate part of the fuselage, fuel tank system, TTH mission equipment, basic avionics equipment (partly), NFH mission equipment (partly).

Eurocopter France:
Main and tail rotors, tail rotor gear assembly, integration of the RTM 322 engine and APU, flight control system including the fly-by-wire system, basic avionics system, TTH mission equipment (partly), NFH mission equipment (partly), ice protection system.

Agusta:
Tail section of fuselage, main gear, tail rotor driving unit, integration of T 700 engine, hydraulics, and NFH mission equipment.

Fokker:
Tail boom, main and nose gears, cabin doors.

Manufacturing plants: Three manufacturing plants have been established for the delivery of the end product. Each manufacturing plant produces according to uniform standards. This guarantees a smooth final assembly of the products manufactured by the four partner companies.
Eurocopter Germany will make the final assembly of the German and Portuguese TTH variants; Eurocopter France the final assembly of the French TTH variants and the French and German NFH variants; and Agusta the final assembly of the Italian and Dutch NFH variants.
A preliminary peak will be reached with 18 German Army and Air Force helicopters, respectively, to be delivered in 2008.

Utilization/In-Service Support

National Procedure: The above stated correlation between development and procurement has a considerable influence on the logistic support of the helicopters. Lack of data from the development process will lead to difficulties in the timely processing of the logistical data. This, in turn, will directly affect the capability of the armed forces to provide the helicopters with logistic support. Bearing in mind the difficulties to be expected, Germany will also take the line, which Italy has already ordered in the PI&P contract. Germany will have those helicopters logistically supported by the industry by way of a »Contract Logistics Support (CLS)« which are to be used for the training of pilots at the Bueckeburg Army Aviation School. This will reduce the risk as to the operation of the helicopters in Bueckeburg and make it possible to gather experiences for the logistic support in the units to be carried out by the troops beginning in 2006.
International Procedure: It is the definite intention of the general MoU between the five nations that the cooperation should not end with the completion of the development and procurement. It is rather the declared will to agree a close cooperation in the service phase as well. The respective draft of an »In-Service-Support MoU (ISS-MoU) is currently being negotiated. On the basis of this ISS-MoU, particular implementing arrangements will be concluded for the different service activities. The implementing arrangements for the management configuration and the acquisition/collection/evaluation of data during the service phase are in their final state. As for activities such as material supply and maintenance, the respective implementing arrangements are in preparation.

Export

The product from the NH 90 program is also of interest to countries outside the framework of the NAHEMO nations. Three countries of the Nordic Standard Helicopter Program (NSHP) have decided against strong competition in favor of own NH 90 variants. Finland has ordered ten helicopters of a customized Finnish variant of the German Army helicopter, and Norway 14 naval helicopters with an option of ten additional helicopters as SAR variant. Sweden has ordered 13 helicopters for airlift/SAR and five helicopters, respectively, as an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) variant as well as seven optional helicopters. The conclusion of the agreement for all three contracts was in late 2001; the delivery will take place in the time period from 2004 to 2009.
In August of 2003, Greece has concluded a procurement contract with NHI on the delivery of 20 tactical transport helicopters with on option of 14 additional helicopters. This underscores once more the marketing success of the NH 90 for tactical transport helicopters. Countries such as Australia, Canada, and Spain are engaged in negotiations with NHI.
While the cooperation of the five NAHEMO nations within the scope of the procurement MoU is planned to be continued by means of an ISS MoU, the cooperation with countries outside the NAHEMO nations is to be managed by means of a community MoU. This community MoU will serve as a framework for program arrangements in fields where these countries show an interest in cooperation. One field of interest for other users of NH 90 variants could be a joint configuration management. Changes in the weapon system would be made in concert with the others, which would allow to split nonrecurring expenditures like the development of the changes between the participating nations. This would result in considerable cost reductions for the individual parties. Negotiations about a community MoU and diverse program arrangements as for instance the configuration management are presently taking place with the countries of Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

Perspectives

The NH 90 Program has proven to be a key program and thus a successful component of the European integration for the aircraft and, in particular, for the helicopter industry. In addition, the market chances on the world market are excellent owing to the NH 90 concept. The competitions won hitherto against strong rivalry demonstrate that the European helicopter industry has meanwhile become firmly established. Although it is not possible yet to speak of a standard in the 10-ton class, there are encouraging signs indicating that the NH 90 is going to develop in that direction.
In the European area, nine nations have so far decided in favor of variants of the Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) and/or NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH) versions. With the drastic reduction of the many varieties of types, the interoperability among NATO forces will also clearly improve. For the armed forces, this opens up a broad field of cooperation both in the tactical and logistical domains.

Siegfried Krohn, Federal Office for Defence Technology and Procurement

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