Intended to replace the Belgian air force’s elderly Sea Kings in the Search And Rescue mission, the service’s four NH90 “Grey Caimans” have been grounded for several months to upgrade to their radar and other components. (BE MoD photo)
The four new NFH-90 Gray Caimans were put into service by [Belgium’s] Ministry of Defense in 2015. The aircraft cost around 35 million euros each, and are made jointly by major European defense players such as Airbus and Agusta-Westland. In 2019, the last three Sea Kings will be taken out of service after more than 40 years of loyal service.
But there are big problems with the new helicopters. "Everything went wrong from delivery", says Gen. Frederik Vansina, commander of Belgium’s Air Component (air force). Three of the four aircraft did not meet the required radar performance. Moreover, the aircraft appear to have a lot of teething problems, and their radar occasionally shuts down on its own, according to personnel.
The radar of three Gray Caymans must therefore be repaired by the manufacturer. But that update will now take much longer than the anticipated 3 to 6 months -- It is expected that the helicopters will be out of use for almost a year and a half.
One of the aircraft is still operational today, but from next week it will also be unavailable for maintenance. It is expected that the first upgraded Gray Caiman may be operational again this spring.
Because only one helicopter is available, all crews now have to fly on this single aircraft in order to maintain their pilot’s licenses.
Rescue operations at risk?
The Defense organization fears that, in the coming months, it may on occasion no longer have any helicopters available for a few hours or days to carry out rescue operations at sea. For the time being, the old Sea Kings can still do the work, but they are really at the end of their possibilities. The Defense organization has already bought an old one in the UK in recent years for spare parts, but something like that is no longer feasible. The Gray Caiman must also replace the Sea Kings from 2019 onwards.
There is an agreement with the neighboring countries that they will assist if Belgium’s rescue capability is not available. For example, Belgium has already carried out rescue operations at the request of neighboring countries. Yet, in the coming months, our country threatens to become a "free rider" due to the continuing problems, which will have to ask disproportionately a lot of support from neighboring countries.
Defense held hostage by manufacturer
Defense is very concerned by this problem. Due to the producer's negligence, the helicopters are now out of use for months. Not only is our country struggling with the problems. Other countries that have purchased the Cayman aircraft, such as the Netherlands or Germany, are also in the same boat. According to the Ministry of Defense, prime contractor NH-Industries does not meet the promises it made. Regular inspections for every 600 flight hours are also required, which sometimes compromises availability.
Due to these problems, the Gray Caiman may not be able to be deployed on Belgian frigates until 2025, ten years after it first entered service, so the frigates will have to make do with the old Alouette light helicopters. The new helicopters could have boosted the performance of the now old frigates, but for now there will be nothing in the house. The conversion work on the frigates to receive the Gray Caiman has also been, for the time being, a measure for nothing.
"There are indeed penalty clauses included in the contract and NH also pays them, but we do not yet have a deployable helicopter," says Vansina.
The NH helicopter program should have become the calling card of the European cooperation of the defense industry. But because national interests predominated, there are now no less than 22 versions of the helicopter.
The NH program is increasingly becoming an example of how European defense cooperation should not be carried out.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Belgium operates both versions of the NH90. Belgian navy NFR-90s are called Gray Caiman because of their color, so as to distinguish them from the TTH-90s operated by the Air Force, which are painted dark green.)
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