With over 400 helicopters in service, the NH-90 is a widely used type. Built by a consortium of European manufacturers for many nations, the programme has not been covered in glory. Australia was not happy with theirs and retired them early. Similarly, Norway got into a dispute which involved them saying they wanted to hand them back. A settlement has now resulted in them being bought back. Despite these two, there are other countries making plenty of use of the type.

However, I have only seen them at one place and that is RIAT. The Dutch Navy and the German Army have brought example to the show, and these are the only ones I have been able to photograph. Now I live back on this continent, I might have more opportunities, but we shall see. In the meantime, I decided to go through my shots and see what I have of the type.

There are a couple of things that I like about the airframe. The angular shaping makes me wonder whether they were looking to be stealthy. However, with all of the other features bolted on the outside, I suspect this thing really shows up on someone’s radar. It also seems like quite a low profile. The rotor head is low down. I suspect that this is designed to make it air transportable in a variety of aircraft. Whatever the design choices, I think it looks like a purposeful type and hope to photograph many more soon.