Italian conglomerate Leonardo, a member of the NHI consortium that makes the NH90 helicopters, says Norway has "no legal basis" to retire its aircraft and demand reimbursement.

The statement was presented by the company last Thursday (03). during the Q3 income statement, five months after Norway announced the write-off of its NH90 NFH fleet (NATO Frigate Helicopter). 

In June, the Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency (NDMA) stated that it was taking the NH90s out of service, claiming that the model was unable to meet local requirements due to low availability, late deliveries and high operating costs.

The government organization also said it would return the helicopters and demand a refund of US$ 474 million, the amount paid for the 14 aircraft, of which it received only 13. The original contract stipulated that Norway should receive all the helicopters by 2008, but 14 years later NHI still hadn't delivered the last NH90.

“It is a serious decision, but no matter how many hours the personnel work and no matter how many parts we order, the NH90 will not be able to meet the needs of the armed forces”, said the Minister of Defense of Norway, Bjørn Arild Gram, stating that the model spent more time in maintenance than flying.

Even so, Leonardo countered Oslo's demands. The manufacturer, which owns 41% of the NHI consortium, claims that the “claim for termination for default is legally unfounded and reasonably contestable in any appropriate forum due to lack of factual and legal basis, misinterpretation of contract and Norwegian law, as well as breach of confidentiality obligations.”

The statement reinforces the company's statements at the time of Norway's decision, when it said it was "extremely disappointed” and that "refutes the allegations made against the NH90 as well as the company". NHI also questioned whether Norway could legally break the agreement, but did not threaten legal action. 

Norway is not the only country not wanting to get rid of helicopters produced by Leonardo Helicopters, Airbus and GKN/Fokker. In the same week that the Italians refused the Norwegian demand, it was the turn of the Swedes to denounce the low availability of the aircraft. In December 2021, Australia also said it would retire its NH90s, locally called the MRH90 Taipan; both nations go replace the NH90s with the North American UH-60 Black Hawk/SH-60 Seahawk.