The Italian Army has taken delivery of its final NH90 TTH multirole helicopter from NHIndustries.
The 60th and final aircraft, assembled at Leonardo’s Venice Tessera facility, was handed over in late November to the operator during an official ceremony in the presence of representatives from the Italian Army and its aviation unit, Italian Secretariat General of Defence / National Armaments Directorate, NAHEMA (NATO Helicopter Management Agency), NHIndustries, and Leonardo.
The Italian Army is one of the first and largest NH90 operators, with 31,096 flight hours logged in Italy and abroad to date. The UH-90s, as the Italian NH90s are designated by NATO, are distributed over three main Italian Army Aviation’s bases and its configuration enables a range of missions, such as tactical troop transport, logistics support, special operations, cargo resupply and hoist operations, MEDEVAC (medical evacuation) and light tactical vehicle transport.
The aircraft has also supported disaster relief and emergency response operations in years. In recent years, the collaboration between the Italian Army and Leonardo has further evolved with the capability to deliver NH90 crew training to other operators.
Leonardo’s Venice Tessera facility, covering 24,000 m2, is the Italian final assembly of the NH90s for various operators, including the Italian Army and the Italian Navy. The new plant started assembly of NH90s in 2010 and delivered its first aircraft in June 2011.
“We’re extremely excited to achieve this crucial milestone with the Italian Army. This result is testament to the long-established effective partnership between industry and the operator to deliver the required capabilities and to support its use, thus maximizing the advantages of its outstanding performance and technologies,” Carlo Gualdaroni, chief business officer at Leonardo Helicopters, said.
