OSLO, June 10 (Reuters) – Norway has said it will dump its fleet of NH90 military helicopters and demand reimbursement from a consortium led by European Airbus (AIR.PA), which retaliated by calling the move “legal.” unjustified. “
Norway will return the NH90 military helicopters it ordered from the NHI Industries consortium because they are either unreliable or delayed, the defense minister and military chief said on Friday.
Oslo said it would also seek payment of 5 billion kroner ($ 523 million) plus interest and other costs from NHIndustries, which is owned by Airbus Helicopters (AIR.PA), Italy’s Leonardo (LDOF.MI) and Fokker Aerostructures of the Netherlands. .
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I’m registering
“No matter how many hours our technicians work and how many parts we order, this will never make the NH90 able to meet the requirements of the Norwegian Armed Forces,” Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram told a news conference.
The helicopter consortium said it was “extremely disappointed” with the decision.
“NHI Industries considers this termination to be legally unjustified,” the statement said.
He said he had not been offered the opportunity to discuss the latest proposal to improve the availability of NH90 in Norway or to address specific Norwegian requirements.
Shares of Airbus fell just over 1%.
The original contract for 14 helicopters was signed in 2001, but Norway received only eight, the ministry said.
“We have a helicopter that is not working the way it should,” said General Eirik Christophersen, head of the Norwegian Armed Forces.
However, NHIndustries said it had delivered 13 out of 14 and the fourteenth was ready for acceptance, which means that “we were close to finalizing the basic scope of the original contract”.
(1 dollar = 9.5572 Norwegian kroner)
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I’m registering
Report by Gwladys Fouche; edited by Terje Solswick and Jason Neely
Our standards: Thomson Reuters’ principles of trust.
Add Comment