Airbus Helicopters says it has overcome development and industrialisation issues with the NH90 helicopter program and plans to ramp up production of the program this year.
Speaking at the company’s 2013 results conference on January 28, company CEO Guillaume Faury said NH Industries “has now overcome the difficulties of the beginning of the program” and is now entering the “industrialisation and fast delivery phase.”
He said production in 2013 of nearly 50 NH90s would rise to the full rate of 60 including those produced by NHI partner AgustaWestland and by other production lines including Australia. With the current backlog standing at just over 300 machines, NHI hopes to sell NH90s to Qatar this year, while other orders such as those of Germany, Spain and Portugal may be cancelled or reduced due to reducing defence budgets or development and introduction to service delays with the program.
