The army could recover the NH90 TTH helicopters soon to be withdrawn from the service in Belgium

In June 2024, the Belgian Defense Ministry confirmed the order of fifteen H145M helicopters from Airbus Helicopters to replace not only the Agusta A109 Hirundo exploited since the 1990s but also the four NH90 Caïman Tth [Tactical Transport Helicopter] which had been put into service only eleven years earlier.

However. Similarly, the H145M and the NH90 TTH do not belong to the same category, the second having a profit capacity and higher performance. However, Hence the intention of the Belgian air force to also have eight heavy transport helicopters. Therefore, For the moment, no announcement on the choice of the model has been made.

However. Furthermore, at the last aeronautics and space in the Bourget, the Nahema fair [NATO Helicopter army could recover nh90 tth Management Agency] said that she had signed an addendum to the contract formerly awarded to Nhindustries for the maintenance in operational condition [MCO] French, German, German and Belgian NH90s. Furthermore,

This agreement “covers five years of support. Nevertheless, with two optional extensions of five years each, for a total duration of 15 years” and it will “serve up to 100 NH90 in France, 131 NH90 in Germany and 8 NH90 in Belgium”, then specified Nhindustries, a consortium bringing together Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo and Fokker.

This announcement was hardly surprising for the four NH90 NFH [Nato Frigate Helicopter] That the Belgian Ministry of Defense intends to keep for sea rescue missions and. soon, for the anti-submarine control. On the other hand. it could only be it for the four NH90 TTH given their imminent withdrawal from the service.

Withdrawal which was also confirmed at the beginning of July army could recover nh90 tth by Theo Francken, the Belgian Minister of Defense.

“The star plan already provided that the NH90 TTH would be replaced by the ‘Light Utility Helicopters’. As these helicopters will be delivered next year. the training of pilots and technical staff will start in September of this year, operations will also be stopped from this month, “he said, before justifying this measure by the lack of availability of these devices and their operating cost too high.

It remains to be seen what these four NH90 TTH will become … According to the British journal Jane’s, they should be “maintained in order to be sold”. Unless they remain at the disposal of the Belgian air force for some time. in order to avoid the latter a possible capacity break.

This is indeed what Axel Aloccio indicated. which is both the CEO of Nhindustries and the NH90 program manager within army could recover nh90 tth Airbus Helicopters.

According to remarks reported by Flight Global. Aloccio said that Belgium and France had started discussions [au niveau gouvernemental] To maintain these four NH90 TTH in flight ”.

Among the scenarios under study. one of them was to transfer the NH90 TTH to the light aviation of the Army [ALAT]more specifically in the 3rd regiment of combat helicopters [RHC] tin, which would make them fly on behalf of the Belgian forces.

“If Belgium needs this capacity in the next 18 to 24 months. it will know that these four NH90s TTH are still available and that they have been kept in flight by France,” said Aloccio. “We expect an agreement to be reached before the end of the year, which would be positive,” he concluded.

The Alat and the French Navy also experienced availability problems with the NH90 TTH and the NH90 NFH. However. army could recover nh90 tth in January, the Directorate General of Armament [DGA] Addressed a satisfaction with Airbus Helicopters after noted an improvement in this indicator, even if there were still efforts to be made to “improve the fluidification of the logistics chain” and “develop diagnostic and repair capacities as close as possible to aircraft”.

Photo ! Belgian Defense Ministry