French NH90 Helicopters Will be Operated in Qatar
PARIS (France), March 15, 2018, Author: Galina Zdravkova (Bm), Photo by Yoan Valat/AFP via Getty Images
Florence Parly, the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, welcomed the signed with Qatar contract for the purchase of 28 (twenty-eight) NH90 medium twin-engine multirole military helicopters from NHIndustries (NHI) in Aix-en-Provence, reported DefenseNews.
The Ministry stated that “The decision of Qatar further strengthens the strategic and military strategic and military partnership between our two countries and constitutes a further export success for France.”
NHI is owned by Airbus (62.5%), Leonardo Helicopters (32%) and Fokker Aerostructures (5.5%).
The Ministry admitted the contribution of Florence Parly to that deal: “During recent conversations with the Defence Minister of Qatar, Florence Parly took the opportunity on several occasions to present the NH90 helicopter, operated by the French forces, and whose exceptional military capabilities make it an instrument of sovereignty of the first order.”
Sixteen of the purchased helicopters will be used for land missions and will be built at Airbus Helicopter’s plant in Southern France. The other twelve NH90s are intended for naval operations and will be assembled at Leonardo in Italy.
The Contract for the NH90s was announced by the Ministry of Defence of Qatar on 14th March at DIMDEX (Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition & Conference) in Qatar. The Contract is valued at more than EUR 3 billion to the NHI consortium. The first delivery is expected to be executed before June 2022, and the last one shall be completed in 2025.