Stewart Penney/LONDON
A proposal by Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden to jointly purchase up to 100 9-15t helicopters for diverse roles could lead to licence production of the successful type.
Nordic Standard Helicopter Programme (NSHP) manager Col Mats Westin says a working group has been established to discuss the four nations' offset needs. It will report by the end of September in time for the issue of a request for quotations (RFQ) at the end of November.
Sikorsky S-92 business development manager Fred Geier says the industrial offset requirements could lead to programme participation and the potential order size means "licence production is not out of the question".
EH Industries partner GKN Westland says it has not directly discussed EH101 licence production but notes this could become an issue if a "genuinely common" helicopter is selected.
Eurocopter will offer the Cougar MkII and the NH Industries NH90, but says it is too early to discuss licence production.
Industry has expressed doubts that the four nations will reach a compromise that would lead to selection of a single type (Flight International, 26 May-2 June). Finland needs a transport, Sweden a land-based anti-submarine warfare (ASW) machine, Norway a search and rescue helicopter and Denmark a shipboard ASW aircraft.
Geier says Sikorsky is studying a range of palletised mission systems that would be rolled into the S-92 utility version via the rear ramp. For the ASW mission, a dipping sonar would be mounted on the cargo hook position while a fold-out radar could be fixed to the ramp. Sweden uses a similar system on its Kawasaki/Vertol KV107s.
Westin says defence ministers are working on the final text of a four-nation memorandum of understanding. Bidders will have until April to respond to the RFQ and a decision is due late next year.
Source: Flight International
