Norway will return the NH90 military helicopters it ordered from the NHIndustries consortium because they are either unreliable or delivered late, the defense minister and the army chief said on Friday. Oslo said it would also seek repayment of 5 billion kroner ($ 523 million) plus interest and other expenses from NHIndustries, owned by Airbus Helicopters (AIR.PA), Italy’s Leonardo (LDOF.MI) and Fokker Aerostures. of the Netherlands. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “No matter how many hours our technicians work and how many components we order, the NH90 will never be able to meet the requirements of the Norwegian Armed Forces,” Defense Secretary Bjoern Arild Gram told a news conference. The helicopter consortium said it was “extremely disappointed” by the decision. “NHIndustries considers this complaint to be legally unfounded,” it said in a statement. She said she was not offered the opportunity to discuss the latest proposal to improve the availability of the NH90 in Norway or to address specific Norwegian requirements. Airbus shares fell just over 1%. The initial contract for 14 helicopters was signed in 2001, but Norway has received only eight, the ministry said. “We have a helicopter that is not working properly,” said General Eirik Kristoffersen, head of the Norwegian Armed Forces. However, NHIndustries said it had delivered 13 of the 14 and the fourteenth was ready for acceptance, meaning “we were close to finalizing the main scope of the original contract”. (1 $ = 9,5572 Norwegian kroner) Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Gwladys Fouche. curated by Terje Solsvik and Jason Neely Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
