NH Industries’ NH90 helicopter has been selected to replace the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s ageing Iroquois.
“The NH90 is a modern, very capable helicopter with a growing international customer base and assured longterm support. It has been designed to meet current and future requirements and provides an excellent long-term investment,” says Defence Minister Mark Burton. “It has the capacity to carry up to 16 fully equipped troops, and has a rear ramp that can be used to load small vehicles such as quad bikes with a large freight capacity that will also be particularly useful for tasks such as disaster relief operations.”
Mr Burton said utility helicopters provided essential support for a wide range of military operations, peace support, civil emergencies and counter terrorism requirements.
“We used our utility helicopters extensively on New Zealand’s missions in such places as the Solomon Islands, Timor Leste and Bougainville. They also provide important support to the police and civil authorities in New Zealand, in activities as wide ranging as disaster relief, search and rescue, fire fighting and counter-drug operations”.
The other key element of the helicopter modernisation project is the replacement of the old Sioux training helicopter with a new training/light utility helicopter. Work is well advanced and decisions on the helicopter type are expected later this year.
Discussions with NH Industries will now focus on cost finalisation, numbers to be purchased and delivery availability. This information will be made public once the commercial negotiations have been finalised and decisions have been made about the replacement for the Sioux training helicopter.