Airbus Helicopters and Leonardo have announced a joint initiative to develop the next phase of the NH90 helicopter’s evolution, launching an architecture study for the Block 2 upgrade in direct response to a request from the NATO Helicopter Management Agency (NAHEMA).
This critical study, expected to be contracted with NAHEMA before the end of 2025, will define key structural improvements to the NH90 platform. These include modular avionics, enhanced configuration commonality, and significantly improved maintenance and operational performance. Also on the table are new capabilities supporting collaborative combat operations, greater connectivity, and seamless crewed-uncrewed teaming.
The move marks an important milestone in ensuring the NH90 remains relevant in the face of rapidly evolving defence requirements across Europe and NATO.
“There are several studies running at the moment at NATO, EU, and national levels to assess the future of military helicopters,” said Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters. “Together with Leonardo, we believe that the NH90 will have a central role to play in the future of European defence capabilities. The NH90 Block 2 evolution will benefit from some of the technologies being investigated by the European Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies study that we are collaborating on in partnership with Leonardo.”
Leonardo Helicopters’ Managing Director, Gian Piero Cutillo, emphasised the alignment of this latest initiative with the broader NH90 roadmap. “The NH90 Block 2 study clearly complements the longer-term evolution of the NH90, for which a major step based on the Software Release 3 contract (also called Block 1) had already been outlined last year,” he explained. “We’re committed to delivering a study able to meet NAHEMA’s expectations as well as bearing in mind Nations’ needs and their evolving rotorcraft capability requirements.”
In May 2024, NAHEMA and NHIndustries (NHI) signed a short-to-medium term programme enhancement agreement (Block 1), aimed at boosting in-service fleets’ capabilities with upgrades in tactical information systems, data sharing, sensors, navigation, and weapon integration. The upcoming Block 2 architecture will build directly on these enhancements.
This collaborative momentum between Airbus and Leonardo follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed in July 2024, establishing a framework for extensive analysis of the NH90 programme and a shared commitment to exploring innovative solutions for its future evolution.
SOURCE AND IMAGE: AIRBUS
