Belgian Armed Forces NH90-TTH replacement
Although not yet confirmed by the Belgian Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Belgian government will soon ink a contract with Airbus Helicopters for acquiring fifteen Airbus H145M twin-engine light utility helicopters.
The H145Ms will replace the NH90-TTH version, of which the Belgische Luchtmacht (BLu, Belgian Air Force) operates four aircraft with 18 Squadron Arès-Leonidas at Beauvechain air base. In January 2022, the Minister of Defence (MoD), Ludivine Dedonder, added 3 billion euros to the 2016 strategic plan for new equipment. The larger part of the additional budget was to be invested in new helicopters.
The main discomfort with the NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) is the low availability rate and high operational costs to maintain and operate them. Due to the very limited number of helicopters, the NH90-TTH is hardly usable.
According to information reported by the Belgian media, the MoD is looking for ways how to sell the four NH90-TTHs. They also want to buy one additional NH90-NFH to add to the fleet of four operated by 40 Squadron at Koksijde. The NH90-NFHs are expected to be released from their SAR mission and solely concentrate on missions aboard the Belgian Navy frigates, where they will work close with the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu, Royal Netherlands Air Force) NH90-NFHs. The NFH squadron will move to Oostende-Brugge airport in the near future.
By 2030, the current fleet of Leonardo A109BAi helicopters need to be replaced. Buying additional Airbus H145Ms seems a logical choice, looking at efficiency and savings. The H145M is a multi functional helicopter, that can be used for a variety of missions.
Photo (just illustrative) by Reinold Kalsbeek (Scramble Archive)