NHI Industries Reiterates Concerns over Sikorsky S-70B in Indian Multi Role Helicopter Tender

NHI Industries, the manufacturer of the NH90 helicopter has reiterated its concerns over the performance of its rival Sikorsky S70B in trails for the Indian Navy’s Multi Role Helicopter tender. In a letter to Defence Minister A.K. Antony, the NHI Managing Director, B.Vaccari has sought to provide ‘additional information’ to support its earlier communication to the MoD. NHI Industries lists out 10 instances where the S70B could not have met the Naval Staff Quality Requirements (NSQRs). These include requirements for internal/external tanks, fuel reserve, sonar, health and usage monitoring system, deck lock and technical literature. The letter quotes the S70B technical manuals to emphasize that the trial performance of its rival could have been at variance with the NSQRs. In addition, NHI Industries claims it has taken the necessary permission form European governments to provide technical documentation to the Indian Navy so that future certification requirements can be met by Indian certification agencies. It speculates that since the S70B is an American built helicopter, getting the documentation would run afoul of the U.S. export control restrictions. Meanwhile, Sikorsky appears upbeat about its prospects in the $ 1 billion tender. A Sikorsky executive has been quoted as saying in the Indian media that its helicopter could be the L1 (lowest bidder) in the Indian naval tender and that it was awaiting the outcome of the field evaluation trials (FET) held late last year. Sikorsky has tied up with the Tata business group of India and expect to set up an helicopter assembly plant in India for defence helicopters should it win the Navy tender. A section of the Indian media had earlier reported quoting “Navy sources” that both the NH90 and the Sikorsky S70B had cleared the field evaluation trials and that the report had been submitted to the Indian MoD which has to decide on an eventual winner. In the report, the sources have said that the European manufacturer was trying to cause delays with ‘unreasonable queries and concerns’. NHI Industries sources said that they were trying to bring the ‘true picture’ to the notice of Indian decision-makers. “The NH90 helicopter is the only fifth generation, fly-by-wire helicopter In military service today and it has been specifically designed to operate effectively in a modern threat environment”, the sources said.