Royal
Netherlands Navy crews of the NH90 helicopter and HNLMS Holland Offshore Patrol
Vessel conducted deck landings with winds up to Force 8 and waves up to 4
meters high last week in the North Sea.
The
tests are being conducted to determine the maximum wind limit for operating the
NH90 from the Holland-class OPV.
These
are needed to know how far you can go during operations in bad weather said
Lieutenant Commander Chris van den Berg,
Royal
Netherlands Navy crews of the NH90 helicopter and HNLMS Holland Offshore Patrol
Vessel conducted deck landings with winds up to Force 8 and waves up to 4
meters high last week in the North Sea.
The NH90
helicopter is firmly secured on HNLMS Holland Offshore Patrol Vessel
Maximum concentration
"Each
class of ships are tested and analyzed. For example, you have to deal with wind
turbulence," says the ship’s commander. “And, compared to the larger
vessels like air defense and command frigates, and the amphibious transport
ship, the Holland-class is more susceptible to waves."
A test
team from the Air Force was collecting all data for analysis. In addition, for
the first time a ship controlled the helicopter’s approach. In such a case, the
air controller aboard the ship uses the radar images of the NH90 to guide the
helicopter when its crew has poor or no visibility.
Flying independently
Night
approaches and landings were carried out autonomously by the helicopter crew
using night vision googles. “Whereas last week we waved off a Lynx because it had
too much cockpit lighting and was not suitable to fly with this night vision
equipment, its successor will be able to operate with it. This makes faster
approaches possible. You can easily fly out and land independently." Test
Pilot Lieutenant First Class Job Sicking reported.
"The
NH90 weighs 11 tonnes, which is 6 tonnes more than the Lynx, where a knock on
the stick often enough." This is the final week of sea trials aboard the
Holland-class ships. While training is slightly behind schedule pending the
delivery of more NH90s, the test schedule is on track. "Only deck landings
on the M-frigates and additional testing, such as hot weather conditions
testing remain to be done."
Shipborne Helicopters
Earlier
this year, the Royal Dutch Airforce and Navy conducted deck landings with an
Apache attack helicopter on the amphibious Landing Platform Dock (LPD) HNLMS
Rotterdam. Cougar transport helicopters are currently deployed on the vessel
deployed on mission against piracy off the coast of Somalia.
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