Airbus calls on UK ‘to reflect' on NMH following vendor withdrawals

Seen at Airbus Helicopers' Marignane facility in southern France, the H175M demonstrator has now lost the Union Jack livery that adorned it during its run for the NMH requirement. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

Airbus has called on the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) “to reflect” on how it proposes to pursue its New Medium Helicopter (NMH) requirement, following the recent withdrawal of two of three competing vendors.

Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even told Janes and other defence media on 8 October that with the incumbent Puma HC2 that NMH is meant to replace able to fly out to the mid-2030s, there is no need to hurry the procurement and that time should now be taken to reconsider what the MoD wants and how it goes about getting it.

“My message [to the UK] is the Puma is a good helicopter, which can continue to fly till 2035, so it's perhaps also a good opportunity to take time and to reflect on this requirement,” Even said, adding, “It is a decision for the customer [whether to] reflect on this next step, [but] I just observe that we were not the only one to take this decision [to withdraw from NMH, with Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky having done the same leaving Leonardo as the sole bidder], and that is perhaps why it is the right moment to reflect on the next step – there is no rush.”

Launched in 2021 NMH is a GBP1.2 billion (USD1.5 billion) competition to replace the UK's 23 Puma HC2s with “up to 44” new helicopters (a previous element of the requirement to replace three other helicopter types was later separated out).

Janes