NH90 NFH Helicopters with Marte ER Anti-ship Missiles for Qatari Navy.

Leonardo announced that it has made effective the contract, signed on March 14, 2018, for the supply of 28 NH90 medium twin-engine multirole military helicopters to the Ministry of Defense of Qatar. The Qatari Emiri Navy is set to take delivery of 12 NH90 NFH, the maritime variant of the helicopters, from 2022.

An NH90 NFH aboard ITS Carlo Margottini during DIMDEX 2018

Qatar has also selected MBDA's Marte ER anti-ship missiles to equip its NH90 helicopters, giving them a potent anti-surface warfare (ASUW) capability. The Qatari Emiri Navy will be the first NH90 user to deploy anti-ship missiles.

The deal for the NH90 helicopters was first announced during the DIMDEX Exhibition in Doha in the presence of the Italian Minister of Defence Roberta Pinotti and Leonardo Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Profumo.

Leonardo will act as overall prime contractor with responsibility for programme management, final assembly and delivery of the 12 NH90 NFH helicopters from its Venice – Tessera facility in Northern Italy and an eight-year support and training services package for crews and maintenance technicians. Meanwhile Airbus will be responsible for the final assembly of the 16 NH90 TTH aircraft. Deliveries are expected to start before June 2022 and to continue through to 2025. Leonardo will also supply, contribute to and integrate various equipment, avionics and sensors. The programme could be further extended in the future with the addition of 6 + 6 units in a mix of TTH and NFH variants.

During DIMDEX 2018, the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition & Conference (DIMDEX), CAE was awarded a subcontract from Leonardo Helicopters to provide the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) with a comprehensive NH90 helicopter training solution.

Our video coverage of the NH90 announcement during DIMDEX 2018

About NH90
The largest military helicopter programme in Europe, the NH90 is the optimal choice for modern operations thanks to its fully composite airframe with a large cabin, its excellent power-to-weight ratio and its wide range of role equipment. It features a quadraplex fly-by-wire flight control system for reduced pilot workload and enhanced flight handling characteristics.

The NH90 is available in two main variants, one dedicated to naval operations, the NH90 NFH (NATO Frigate Helicopter) and the TTH (Tactical Transport Helicopter) for land based operations. As of today, almost 350 helicopters have been delivered in NFH and TTH variants to customers in 13 nations. Aircraft in service have logged nearly 170,000 flight hours in a wide range of weather and environmental conditions, over land and sea. 543 NH90s have been ordered by customers worldwide to date.

The twin-engine, medium-size NH90 helicopter programme is managed by NHIndustries, which is owned by Leonardo, Airbus, and Fokker.

Marte ER on MBDA stand DIMDEX 2018

About Marte ER antiship missile
Marte ER represents the 3rd generation within the Marte family of missile systems and is derived from Marte MK2/S. The main difference between the two lies in the introduction of a turbo engine in place of the rocket motor. The Marte MK2/S medium-range anti-ship weapon system belongs to the Marte MK2 missile system family and is designed to be used on fast jets and new-generation naval versions of European AW101 and NH90 helicopters for operation against naval targets. Marte ER’s design takes into account that Marte MK2/S is already qualified and installed on these two platforms, offering advantages such as same mechanical, functional & electrical helicopter interfaces; same logistic support and no platform hardware changes required.

Missile characteristics:
• Weight: 315 kg
• Length: 3.60 m
• Max body diameter: 316 mm
• Range: well beyond 100 km
• Speed: High subsonic