The German government has approved the purchase of 31 Sea Tiger helicopters that will be embarked aboard German Navy frigates.
Both the Sea Tiger and the recently-delivered Sea Lion multi-role helicopters are based on the NH90 helicopter platform.
The Sea Lion will perform search and rescue (SAR), maritime reconnaissance and transportation missions, while the new Sea Tiger will perform anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare tasks.
First Sea Tigers are scheduled for delivery from 2025, when they will replace the Sea Lynx Mk88A helicopters that have been in service since the 1980s.
The Sea Tigers will be the only multi-role combat helicopters of the German Armed Forces in the future. Armed with torpedoes or guided missiles, they will provide protection against enemy attacks at close range for the ships they will be embarked on.
According to the NHIndustries consortium, which comprises Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo Helicopters, and Fokker Aerostructures, the NH90 comes in two configurations, the tactical troop transport (referred to as the Sea Lion in Germany) and NATO frigate helicopter (referred to as the Sea Tiger in Germany).
The platform was designed to meet NATO’s requirement for a modern medium-sized multi-role military helicopter for both land and maritime operations.
In addition to Germany, the NH90 is in service with 13 other countries.
