Qatar has signed a contract for the purchase of 28 NH90 military helicopters, during DIMDEX, Qatar’s biennial defence exhibition.

The agreement, which includes 16 NH90s in tactical transport (TTH) configuration and 12 NH90s in naval (NFH) configuration, will support the country’s plan to modernise their military helicopter fleet. As part of the plan, Qatar will receive 16 H125 light single-engine helicopters in training configuration for operation by the Qatar Armed Forces Air Academy.

“We are honoured to support the Qatar Armed Forces through this strategic partnership”, said Ben Bridge, Executive Vice President Global Business at Airbus Helicopters. “The NH90 is a modern and combat-proven asset that will meet Qatar’s demanding operational requirements for decades to come, both in troop transport and naval missions. Our partnership on the new training academy will also strengthen the relationship between our countries by enabling the exchange of expertise and know-how in helicopter operations”, he added.

Leonardo will act as prime contractor for the programme management with the end customer and Airbus will be responsible for the final assembly and delivery of 16 NH90 TTH aircraft from its facility in Marignane, France while Leonardo will be responsible for final assembly and delivery of the 12 NH90 NFH helicopters from its Venice – Tessera facility in Northern Italy.

The NH90 is well suited for operations in the most demanding conditions and has been combat-proven in many theatres of operation worldwide. This contract for 28 helicopters brings the total order book to 543 aircraft. To date, 350 aircraft have been delivered to 20 customers in 13 countries and have accumulated around 170,000 flight hours.

The twin-engine, medium-size NH90 helicopter program is managed by the consortium NHIndustries, a company owned by Airbus Helicopters (62.5%), Leonardo (32%), and Fokker (5.5%).