Airbus Helicopters delivered a first NH90 Sea Lion to Germany. It is also the 400th copy delivered in the world, all variants included. The German Navy has also ordered the NH90 to replace its 22 Sea Lynx.
The replacement process of the German Navy’s Sea Kings Mk41 has now entered a very concrete phase with the delivery by Airbus Helicopters of the first of 18 NH90 Sea Lion helicopters ordered in June 2015 by the BAAINBw or to make longer the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support. Once validated, the NH90 will be able to join the German Navy. Two more Sea Lion NH90s will be delivered by the end of this year, the next fifteen will follow until the end of 2022. Airbus Helicopters has not finished delivering the NH90 to BAAINBw since Germany has also decided to take the NH90 to replace its 22 Sea Lynx Mk88A that have nearly 40 years of loyal service behind them. If the NH90 Sea Lion will be used for troop and material transport, search and rescue missions, the second batch will be the embedded anti-submarine NFH version similar to the Caiman. Sea Lynx replacement is scheduled to begin in 2025.