Personnel reassmble an NH90 after its arrival in the northwestern African country of Mali in 2017. Bundeswehr
Warzone/The Drive: Germany Has Fewer Than 10 Tiger And 12 NH90 Helicopters Ready For Combat
Germany blames Airbus for the helicopters' low availability, but it is the latest example of the country's general continuing readiness woes.
A report has emerged that shows just 15 percent of Germany's Tiger attack helicopters and only around 12 percent of its NH90 transport helicopters were mission capable as of November 2019. The German Armed Forces, or Bundeswehr, has blamed Airbus, which provides contract maintenance services for both types, for the low availability rates, but this also comes as German authorities continue to struggle to improve readiness across the country's military.
German newspaper Bild was first to report on the low readiness of the two German military helicopter types on Jan. 1, 2020. A leaked Bundeswehr report that the outlet obtained said that eight out of 53 Tigers and 12 of 99 NH90s were "ready-to-use." Germany took delivery of its first Tiger in 2005 from what was then known as Eurocopter, which morphed into Airbus Helicopters in 2014. The German military received the first NH90, which NHIndustries, a consortium that includes Airbus, produces, in 2006.
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Update: Is Germany's Military Dying? (David Axe, National Interest)
WNU Editor: For a country that spends tens of billions on defense, having only a few helicopters ready for combat does not make any sense.
