The Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) has taken delivery of a Mission Planning & Analysis System (MPAS) in the Final Operative Configuration for its fleet of NH90 NFH medium twin naval helicopters, AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, announced.
This delivery of MPAS follows the one released into service in 2011 and it is aimed at both supporting new aircraft functionalities and implementing enhancements based on operational feedback from more than one year of RNLN in service experience.
The system delivery to the Navy was achieved after successful execution of the Acceptance Tests and Operational Verifications, initially at the AgustaWestland Helicopter Support Systems facility in Sesto Calende and then at the De Kooy Naval Base in the Netherlands.
The RNLN MPAS is based on the state of the art AgustaWestland designed Skyflight Planning System, a multi-helicopter flight and mission planning solution core to all variants of AgustaWestland’s mission planning stations. The delivered final configuration is now fully supporting the RNLN’s operations by providing the users with the means for complex mission planning including sonic, auto-protection and surveillance systems as well as a complete aircraft data upload/download capability and post mission analysis.
Daniele Romiti, Chief Executive Officer, AgustaWestland said: “This achievement demonstrates our commitment to offering the market customized solutions to meet the needs and expectations of our customers. This advanced mission planning system helps crews maximise operational effectiveness, so we are pleased to deliver this advanced solution to the Royal Netherlands Navy.”
“Many thanks to everyone involved who made this MPAS grow to a very mature level and unique in its kind. This is also the start of the operational usage of Skyflight under the umbrella of Customer Logistic Support (CLS). Let’s continue the outstanding working relationship we have established,” said Sjaak Snoeren, Program Manager Mission Planning & Analysis System NH90 helicopter at Royal Netherlands Air Force.
The Royal Netherlands Navy has ordered a total of 20 NH90 NFHs and was the first customer to receive the NFH variant aircraft in April 2010.
The NH90 programme is managed by NAHEMA (NATO Helicopter Management Agency) representing France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Portugal, and by the NH Industries industrial consortium comprising AgustaWestland (32%), Eurocopter (62.5%) and Fokker Aerostructures (5.5%). In the framework of the NH90 programme, AgustaWestland is responsible for the production of the main transmission, tail drive shafts, hydraulic system, automatic flight control system, rear ramp, rear fuselage, the T700/6E1 engine solution installation and on-board computers. Furthermore, AgustaWestland is also responsible for the overall integration of the NH90 naval mission system for all NFH variants.
[mappress] Press Release, November 29, 2013; Image: AgustaWestland