NH90 is entering into service for the first time with the Spanish Army

The Directorate General of Armament and Equipment (DGAM) completed the transfer of the first two NH90 tactical transport helicopters from the Airbus Helicopters plant in Albacete to the Spanish Army. The handover was made at the Coronel Maté Air Base in Colmenar Viejo, the headquarter of the Spanish Army Airmobile Force (FAMET) and marked the entry into service of the NH90 within the FAMET. The ceremony was conducted by Lieutenant General Juan Bautista García Sánchez, the head of the Spanish Army’s Logistic Support Command Center, who was accompanied by a number of civil and military dignitaries. The NH90s, which the Army has renamed HT-29 Caimans, will form part of FAMET’s Third Manoeuvre Helicopter Battalion (BHELMA III), based at the Héroes del Revellín Barracks in Agoncillo. A third helicopter was already transferred earlier this month to the FAMET and is stationed at the Agoncillo base, where it is performing training missions. Two additional NH90s will be delivered by Airbus Helicopters by the end of the year, making it five aircraft handed over in 2016. In total, the company will supply 22 NH90 helicopters to the Spanish Armed Forces, under a delivery schedule that runs up to 2021.