European helicopters are, indisputably, among the best rotary wings in the world, and have been for several decades. Over the course of industrial concentrations and consolidations of activity, two large European groups have emerged in this field, the Franco-German Airbus Hélicoptères and the Italian-British Agusta-Westland. Is it to respond to the emergence of new technologies like those implemented in the United States within the framework of US Army Future Vertical Lift program ? or the upcoming arrival of China and its Z-20 on the international market? in any case, these 4 countries home to European helicopters, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, joined in this by Greece, have joined forces to design the next European medium multi-role helicopter.
This initiative, called the Next Generation Rotorcraft Capabilities project, is part of NATO's High Visibility Projects, or HVP, to replace the many medium helicopters which, from 2035, will have to be withdrawn from service within NATO. The signing of the cooperation protocol was organized virtually, due to Covid, and the Defense Ministers of the 5 participating states were able to sign the document jointly by video.
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