Patria Helicopters has secured a contract to deliver spare parts of the NH Industries (NHI)-built NH90 military helicopter to the Swedish Armed Forces.
Patria is an NH Industries (NHI) authorised Nordic NH90 Service Centre in Finland, Sweden and Norway.
Patria Helicopters managing director Jouni Majuri said: "We at Patria Helicopters are very delighted to provide locally matched services to these two important customers throughout the helicopters’ whole lifecycle, and are prepared to a long-term service commitment."
The NH90 is a medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter developed in response to Nato requirements for a battlefield helicopter that can also operate in naval environments.
The Swedish Air Force currently operates eight NH90s, having signed a contract for 18 helicopters, including 13 tactical transport/search and rescue and five ASW variants in 2001.
Patria also offers maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) services to Nordic NH90 customers.
Commenting on the latest agreement, Patria Aviation president Lassi Matikainen said: "These agreements further represent a great opportunity to expand the utilisation of Patria’s existing NH90 capabilities.
"This clearly strengthens our position as the leading helicopter LCS provider in the region."
In July, Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) awarded a contract to Saab for the delivery of component maintenance for the tactical mission system (TMS) installed on-board the Swedish Armed Forces’ NH90s.
Under this Skr170m ($19.6m) deal, the company is responsible for component maintenance of the TMS to ensure full system availability.
The NH90 helicopter programme is managed by the consortium NHIndustries, owned by AgustaWestland (32%), Airbus Helicopters (62.5%), and Fokker (5.5%).
Image: The Swedish Air Force currently operates eight NH90 helicopters. Photo: courtesy of Alan Wilson.
