Germany's First NH90 helicopters Reaches Mali

German military's first NH90 medium class military helicopters arrived in Mali as part of its largest military mission abroad currently.

An additional 300 German soldiers are deployed in Mali as part of the European Union’s (EU) training mission EUTM, Defence Blog.com reported today. 

The army began with the shifting of NH90 combat and Tiger transport helicopters on Friday from Leipzig-Halle airport to Mali.

The NH90s will be used to transport and rescue injured people, besides planned operations to escort convoys and conduct surveillance.

An NH90 helicopter configured for medical evacuation was flown to Bamako, Mali, on 27 January, IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly reported. The report also noted that it would be followed by three more NH90s and four Tigers.

Following arrival to Bamako, the helicopters will fly 1 200 km to Gao in support of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

The NH90 medium class military helicopter is a modern, multi-role aircraft designed according to the most stringent NATO standards.

Developed in two versions – tactical troop transport (TTH) and NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH) – the NH90 is well suited for operations in the most demanding conditions over land and sea, day and night.

The NH90, developed by Europe’s NH Industries partnership (Airbus Helicopters, Agusta Westland, and Fokker) was designed to meet NATO’s requirement for a modern medium-sized multi-role military helicopter for both land and maritime operations.