Norway reaches settlement with Airbus-led NHIndustries in NH90 helicopter case

An NHIndustries NH90 helicopter performs a flying display at the 54th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

OSLO/PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Norway and three leading European aerospace groups have reached a settlement over the country's 2.86 billion euro ($3.3 billion) damages claim following its cancelled order for NH90 submarine-hunting helicopters, the Norwegian government and the companies said.

The settlement with NHIndustries and owners Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab, Leonardo (LDOF.MI), opens new tab and GKN Fokker will avoid a rare public trial over defence procurement as well as a countersuit by the manufacturers for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Norway will now receive 305 million euros from NHI in addition to amounts previously paid of around 70 million euros, the government said in a statement.

The Norwegian defence ministry has said the delivery of the 14 helicopters ordered in 2001 should have been completed by the end of 2008 but that it faced more than a decade of delays and missing parts.

The government cancelled the order in 2022 and had been seeking damages and compensation from NHIndustries and its shareholders in a case that had been due to begin in Oslo on November 10.

NHIndustries will take back the NH90 helicopters it had delivered, along with associated spare parts, tools, and mission-specific equipment, Norway said.

Norway's claim included 2.1 billion euros related to the acquisition of replacement Seahawk helicopters from Lockheed Martin's (LMT.N), opens new tab Sikorsky, court documents reviewed by Reuters showed.

NHIndustries had rejected the government's claim, seeking compensation and damages of 730 million euros from the state.

The trial had threatened to shine a spotlight on one of Europe's flagship defence programmes at a time when the West is struggling to put on a united front against Russia, and Norway is rapidly rearming to counter submarine threats in the Arctic.

Norway is NATO's monitor for a 2 million square kilometre (772,000 square miles) area of the North Atlantic. Russia's Northern Fleet has its base on the Kola Peninsula, an area in the Arctic bordering Norway.