Norway may abandon NH90 purchase in favour of S-70B Seahawk

Norway is understood to be considering the purchase of Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk helicopters instead of the NH90 it ordered in 2001, but which are now six years late.

The Norwegian Defence Ministry is reportedly ready to terminate its NOK6.3 billion (USD1 billion) contract with NHIndustries for 14 NH90 helicopters, of which only one has been delivered to date.

Norway's Defence Minister Espen Barth Eide has now made it clear that it may be the end of the road for the pan-European company and that Norway is looking instead towards "off-the-shelf solutions".

"If they cannot come up with a credible plan for delivery, we will have to consider other alternatives," Eide told Norway's Aftenposten newspaper. "This is an early warning to the European manufacturer, that if we don't see deliveries by the end of the year, then we have to look for other alternatives."

The minister subsequently told Reuters that the "Sikorsky Seahawk fills our criteria and is the strongest alternative".

The first helicopter was delivered in December 2011 and is now being tested by the Norwegian military, but is unlikely to be operational before 2014.