Design Challenge
France and Germany
want to procure a
common heavy lift
helicopter. This will
be a difficult and
ambitious task given
the numerous needs
of both countries.
To say that it is an ambitious prod- uct would be an understatement, but to say that it is impossible would be exaggeration. However,
France and Germany have certainly set
themselves a difficult task. Both countries
want to procure a common heavy lift
helicopter. Germany needs to replace its
Sikorsky CH-53G aircraft by around 2020,
while the French armed forces, which have
not previously operated a heavy lift rotorcraft, have discovered the need for such
a machine in the canyons of Afghanistan
and in the wide open spaces of Chad, west
Africa, where the Armée de Terre (French
Army) have a major peacekeeping operation. Moreover, both France and Germany
are mindful that, as well as requiring a
means to move heavy equipment and
troops into areas bereft of airstrips, they
also need an aircraft that is capable of performing humanitarian assistance opera-
The NH Industries NH-90 is one of the largest
helicopters currently in production in Europe.
Using the NH-90 as the baseline aircraft for the
Franco-German heavylift initiative would require
the aircraft to undergo serious, and expensive,
modifications.
AUGUST 2009 | ROTOR & WING MAGAZINE
tions such as the evacuation of large num-
bers of civilians from disaster areas, or the
movement of food and medical supplies.
Although the out-of-service date for the
CH-53Gs illustrates just how pressing Ger-
many’s need for a new heavy lift helicopter
is, history may not be on Paris and Berlin’s
side. The pan-European Airbus A400M
turboprop military airlifter, which involves
France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United
Kingdom, Turkey, Belgium and Luxem-
bourg, is currently running around fours
years late regarding its service entry with the
Armée de l’Air (French Air Force), the launch
customer. The situation for pan-European
helicopter programs looks little better. The
NH Industries NH-90 troop transport and
naval helicopter, a joint program involving
France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and
Portugal, is suffering delays of up to two years
for the NFH (NATO Frigate Helicopter) ver-
sion of the aircraft to enter service.
The Franco-German heavy lift initiative
can be traced back to 2006, when the Min-
istries of Defence of France and Germany
announced a wish to acquire a new heavy
lift helicopter and released a Request for
Information to this end. Both countries are
looking for a rotorcraft which can lift up to
13 tons, or 70 fully-equipped troops, more
than 540 nautical miles (1,000 kilometers).
The maximum take-off weight of the heli-
copter is in the region of 35 tons.
Eurocopter has been tasked by the
governments to devise a design which
could fulfil this requirement. The company
has looked at developing its own heavy
