Airbus Will Lead NATO Next-Generation Rotorcraft Capability Concept Study

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has awarded a contract to Airbus Helicopters to lead a concept study in the frame of  the Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) project.

Its participants will be combining their efforts to work on design, development and delivery of a medium multi-role helicopter. Airbus is partnering with RTX’s Collins Aerospace and Raytheon businesses and MBDA for the 13-month study, which will analyse two integrated concepts of next-generation military rotorcraft. 

“Taking part in this NATO study for the next generation of military rotorcraft offers a unique opportunity to leverage our experience working with the different European armed forces,” said Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters. “Our goal, together with our highly skilled partners, is to develop a European solution, a concept that would fulfill both the needs of the NATO armed forces while also guaranteeing industrial sovereignty for our European nations and maintaining key engineering competencies,” he added. “This project will be fully interoperable with other NATO means. With our experience in both civil and military helicopter design, we are convinced that we have the right cost effective, high performance, and operationally efficient solutions at Airbus Helicopters for the next generation of military rotorcraft.”

NSPA General Manager, Ms Stacy A. Cummings, said: “The launch of Concept Study #5 is a significant milestone for the NGRC concept stage activities, and demonstrates NSPA’s dedication to meet the challenge of next-generation medium-lift for participating nations. The strategy to launch 3 parallel contracts awarded by competition delivers on our commitment to maximise industry expertise, opportunity and engagement in the programme, and will provide a broad range of potential concepts in the study results for our multinational customers.”

France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland and Italy are involved in the project via the different partner companies. Each partner will contribute to the study in its area of expertise: helicopter design, systems integration, connectivity, weapons and effectors, avionics and sensors. The study will focus on high-performance rotorcraft. The concepts will be modular and multi-mission, and fully interoperable with NATO standards. with a high degree of connectivity and resilient communication system.

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is NATO’s lead organisation for multinational acquisition, support and sustainment in all domains.

Read the full press release at airbus.com