The Italian navy will introduce its NFH90 helicopters in a phased approach in order to speed up their service introduction.
The plan will see a small number of ‘Step A’ aircraft accepted in late 2010 giving a meaningful operational capability (MOC), allowing initial training to start soon and a syllabus to be finalised by the time the MOC aircraft enter service.
The fully operational capability (FOC) aircraft are planned to follow in 2011 after certification of their GE/Avio T700/T61E1 engines is completed. Italy has ordered 46 NFH 90s and 10 navalised NH90 transports.
