Oslo: Airbus and Kongsberg of Norway have signed a long-term strategic agreement to collaborate over support and services for the Norwegian Armed Forces, Airbus announced on Thursday (February 3).
Under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Airbus Helicopters, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, and Kongsberg Aviation Maintenance Services, the companies will work to strengthen the deployment of local maintenance capabilities with the objective to optimize the availability of the NH90 helicopter.
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As an initial activity, Airbus is developing and qualifying Kongsberg’s facilities to provide deep maintenance of the NH90 tail gearboxes for the Norwegian fleet and to bring business opportunities for the Nordics where a total of 52 NH90s are operated by Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
The move will position Kongsberg as the prime contractor for this support contract and the first entity outside Airbus to be qualified for the work.
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In subsequent steps, Airbus and Kongsberg have identified further paths to exploit a range of additional cooperation opportunities with the objective of enhancing Norway’s support provision.
Airbus Helicopters Regional Director Industrial Cooperation, Damien Lamy said, “This agreement is the beginning of an ambitious partnership with Kongsberg which will strengthen Norway’s autonomy and sovereign support capability in this specialised field.”
EVP of Kongsberg Aerostructures & MRO, Terje Bråthen, said, “Kongsberg has a proven capability in production, manufacturing, repair and overhaul activity for the aerospace industry. Kongsberg is also a strategic partner to the Norwegian Armed Forces for sustainment and logistics. We are looking forward to our enhanced cooperation with Airbus with the overall goal of increased operational capability for NH90 users.”
