Leonardo Completes Delivery of 18 NH90 Helicopters Ordered by Qatar Air Force

Leonardo has completed the delivery of 18 NH90 helicopters out of 28 ordered by the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) since 2018.

In 2014, Qatar allocated $2.76 billion for upgrading its military helicopter fleet with NH90s. A €3 billion contract, finalized at DIMDEX-2018 exhibition, confirmed the purchase of 28 NH90s—16 for tactical transport and 12 for naval use. In August 2018, Leonardo announced that the effective contract with Qatar totaled $3.7 billion, encompassing the agreed-upon NH90s and an option for six more of each type.

With an average serviceability above 80%, the QEAF is one of the NH90 end users that operates both the TTH (Tactical Troop Transport) and the NFH (Naval Frigate Helicopter) versions of the helicopter for land and naval operations. The aircraft’s main missions include troop transport and utility, search and rescue, and surveillance.

Since the first delivery in 2018, as of today, the QEAF has received 18 helicopters, out of the total of 28 helicopters ordered—nine TTH helicopters built at the assembly line of Marignane (Airbus) and nine NFH helicopters built at the final assembly line of Venice (Leonardo).

The company has built the Training Centre located at Doha Air Base, which includes two Full Flight Simulators (FFS) in naval and land versions, developed in collaboration with CAE, as well as a variety of other systems covering the flight and the mission training requirements.