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NHIndustries NH90

🇪🇸 Spain ·first flew 1995· medium utility military helicopter

🚁 helicopter 4× turboshaft ✓ still flying
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. NH-90 ILA-2006 2: Igge· CC BY-SA 3.0
  2. 2. NH90 TTH: Boevaya mashina· CC BY-SA 4.0
  3. 3. NHIndustries NH90 in Finnish service: Ronnie Macdonald from Chelmsford and Largs, United Kingdom· CC BY 2.0
  4. 4. 2017-06-10 154512 Tag der Bundeswehr NH90 (cropped): Tim Rademacher· CC BY-SA 4.0
  5. 5. EBBE - NH Industries NH90-TTH - Belgian Air Component - RN-06 (40927070873): Steve Lynes· CC BY 2.0
  6. 6. F-ZWTI NH.90 prototype (3217161683): Jerry Gunner from Lincoln, UK· CC BY 2.0
  7. 7. Hkp14 NHIndustries NH-90: Herranderssvensson· CC BY-SA 3.0
  8. 8. Italian Army - 5th Army Aviation Regiment "Rigel" NH90 helicopter during exercise Arctic Endeavour 2023: Italian Army· CC BY 2.5
  9. 9. Italian Army - NH90 helicopter landing at Farah Base in Afghanistan 2019: Italian Army· CC BY 2.5
  10. 10. Landing NH90 Zrms Zeeland 02: Ministerie van Defensie· CC0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
NHIndustries NH90, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Igge· CC BY-SA 3.0

what is it?

The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium-sized European twin-engine multi-role military helicopter. It was the first production helicopter to feature entirely fly-by-wire flight controls. It makes extensive use of composite materials and electronic sensors.

How to recognise it: 4 turboshaft engines · 16.3 m main rotor

base stats

  • speed 300 km/htop speed
  • range 800 kmwithout refuelling
  • seats 20passengers
  • size 10.6 tmax take-off weight
  • built 525made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

  • First flew 31 years ago, in 1995.
  • Top speed is 2.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Rotor of 16.3 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.

turboshaft: A turbine that turns a shaft, usually a helicopter rotor.

spec sheet

first flight
1995-12-18
introduced
2007
status
still flying
number built
525
role
medium utility military helicopter
origin
🇪🇸 Spain
makers
Airbus Helicopters, NHIndustries
engines
4× General Electric CT7-8E / Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322-1/9
crew
2
passengers
20
length
16.1 m
rotor diameter
16.3 m
max take-off weight
10.6 t
top speed
300 km/h
range
800 km
ceiling
6,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q629539, Wikipedia: NHIndustries NH90 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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