WARSAW, POLAND – On 18 and 19 October 2022, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) participated in Europe's largest conference dedicated to military helicopters, with two keynote speakers that briefed the audience on NATO's Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability and on NSPA's role in the support and upgrade of helicopter fleets.
The Global Defence Helicopter event gathered in Warsaw participants from the industry and the military community to learn and discuss about future rotorcraft capabilities and platforms, and innovations in the area.
Mr Cyril Heckel, NSPA's Principal Acquisition and Life Cycle Management Officer, presented the NGRC programme on the first day, highlighting NSPA's principles applied to multinational acquisition, together with a full update on the NGRC programme, its current status and its next steps.
A significant amount of the current helicopter fleets in service with Allies will reach the end of their life cycle in the 2035-40 period and beyond, with the subsequent need for replacements. The Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability offers a multinational framework under which its participants can combine efforts towards the design, the development and eventually the acquisition of the next generation of medium multi-role rotorcraft capabilities.
The NGRC constitutes one of NATO's multinational High Visibility Projects and demonstrates NATO Allies' commitment to maintain a technological edge and to pursue multinational cooperation. NSPA is executing the Concept Stage on behalf of participating nations.