Dutch Plans for NH90 Transport Version Dropped

摘要

The Dutch Ministry of Defence (MoD) has dropped plans to have eight of its 20 NHIndustries (NHI) NH90 Naval Frigate Helicopters (NFHs) delivered in transport configuration (TNFH) for budgetary reasons, according to a letter that Hans Hillen, the Minister of Defence, sent to Parliament on May 20. The MoD acquired the NH90s for the Royal Netherlands Navy in June 2000. An integral helicopter capacity report published in September 2004 first mentioned the MoD's revised requirement for 12 NH90 NFHs and eight NH90s in a dedicated transport configuration. The MoD initially planned to have the final eight helicopters delivered as marinised versions of the Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) variant, including a rear loading ramp. When it became apparent that development of this so-called MTTH would be too costly, the MoD opted for a less expensive, stripped-down version of the NFH dedicated to the transport rale (dubbed TNFH).