LDO Leonardo SpA

By Cristina Roca

Norway has ended its contract with helicopter maker NHIndustries, saying its NH90 aircraft don't and will never meet the requirements of its armed forces.

Norway said Friday that it will return all helicopters received to NHIndustries, in which Airbus SE's helicopter division holds a 62.5% stake. Leonardo SpA and Fokker own the rest of the company, with 32% and 5.5% stakes, respectively.

It will also request a refund, including the around 5 billion kroner ($521 million) it has already paid under the contract, plus interest and other expenses.

"We have made repeated attempts at resolving the problems related to the NH90 in cooperation with NHI, but more than 20 years after the contract was signed, we still don't have helicopters capable of performing the missions for which they were bought, and without NHI being able to present us with any realistic solutions," said Gro Jaere, director general of the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency.

NHIndustries said Friday that it refutes the allegations made against the company and the NH90, and that it considers the contract termination to be legally groundless.

"NHIndustries was not offered the possibility to discuss the latest proposal made to improve the availability of the NH90 in Norway and to address the specific Norwegian requirements," it said.

Write to Cristina Roca at cristina.roca@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 10, 2022 05:41 ET (09:41 GMT)

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