The Spanish Air Force has taken delivery of the first NH90 helicopter equipped for search and rescue (SAR) and combat search and rescue (CSAR) missions.
The service will receive 12 NH90s that will replace its aging fleet of AS332 Super Pumas and will be based in Cuatro Vientos, near Madrid. Spain has ordered a total of 45 NH90s in the tactical transport version, to be operated by all three armed forces branches. 13 helicopters have already been delivered to the Spanish Army Airmobile Force (FAMET) for the Maneuver III Battalion in Agoncillo.
“For the Spanish Air Force, the NH90 provides an essential asset capable of performing a wide range of missions, including tactical transport of troops and logistics support in peacekeeping or reconstruction missions and, of course, the main search and rescue missions in hostile conditions which is one of the most demanding and complex missions for helicopter units,” Javier Salto, General of the Air Force, commented.
“The NH90 is particularly suited to operating in hot and high conditions and will prove to be a real asset to the critical missions performed by the Spanish Air Force” said Nathalie Tarnaud-Laude, Head of NH90 programme at Airbus Helicopters and President of NHIndustries.
The Spanish variant of the NH90 features General Electric CT7 8F5 engines, a personalized communications system and a sophisticated electronic warfare system developed by Indra and will be supported by training devices (including full flight simulators), automatic maintenance equipment (SAMe), and automatic mission planning system (AMPS) developed as well by Indra. Airbus Helicopters in Spain is involved in the manufacturing of the fuselage and the avionics software development and integration.
