Airbus Helicopters and the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) are pursuing a new set of studies to further the militarization of the H160 and to define its associated support ecosystem in the context of the Joint Light Helicopter program (Hélicoptère Interarmées Léger: HIL).
From January 1st, 2020, the Royal Norwegian Air Force set up a new Maritime helicopter wing: The 139 Air Wing of Bardufoss Air Station. The new unit will mainly focus on maritime missions, in which the Norwegian NH90 helicopters play a major role.
The U.S. Navy announced on Jan. 13, 2020 that AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corporation (Leonardo) was awarded a contract for $176.5M for the production of 32 TH-73A helicopters in support of the Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) program.
The Bulgarian Navy received an additional Airbus Helicopter AS365N3 + Dauphin II (tail number 905) naval helicopter on December 6, 2019, at the Chaika airfield in Varna. This unit was procured as a replacement of the AS565MB Panther that crashed in 2017.
The Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) KUH-1 Surion helicopter is now declined in a Marine Attack Helicopter (MAH) designed for amphibious assault close air support.
At MADEX 2019 in Busan (South Korea), a new Mine Countermeasures Helicopter (MCH) variant is being pitched by Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) to answer the ROK Navy requirement for a new airborne countermeasures capability.
The Canadian Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan on August 22 announced new investments in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) fleet of CH-149 Cormorant helicopters.
The United States’ State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to South Korea of 12 MH-60R Multi-Mission helicopters for an estimated cost of $800 million. This is for the MOH Batch 2 requirement of the RoK Navy in which the AW159 and NH90 NFH are competing as well.
The German Navy announced yesterday the selection of the NH90 NFH maritime helicopter as the replacement for its ageing Lynx anti-submarine warfare helicopters.
The NH90 Sea Lion for the German Navy successfully completed mission demonstrations for relevant roles, including SAR missions, in July.
