Airbus and Kongsberg sign maintenance agreement for Norwegian NH90s

Airbus Helicopters has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Norway’s Kongsberg to strengthen local maintenance capabilities for the NH90 multi-purpose helicopter.

The agreement, signed between Airbus, Kongsberg Aviation Maintenance Services and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, includes the development and qualification of Kongsberg’s facilities to provide deep maintenance to NH90 tail gearboxes for the Norwegian military.

The facility upgrades are expected to also attract further business opportunities across the Nordic nations, where a total of 52 NH90s are currently in operation in Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

The partners aim to build on the agreement to provide more services in future

Airbus hopes to position Kongsberg as its prime contractor for this contract, as well as the first third-party entity to be qualified for this work. Under the agreement, Airbus and Kongsberg will work to identify further cooperation opportunities to enhance the provision of aircraft maintenance services in Norway.
“Kongsberg is also a strategic partner to the Norwegian Armed Forces for sustainment and logistics,” said Terje Bråthen, Executive Vice President of Kongsberg Aerostructures & Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul. We are looking forward to our enhanced cooperation with Airbus with the overall goal of increased operational capability for NH90 users.”

Damien Lamy, Airbus Helicopters Regional Director for Industrial Cooperation, added: “This agreement is the beginning of an ambitious partnership with Kongsberg which will strengthen Norway’s autonomy and sovereign support capability in this specialized field.”