Norway drops NH-90

[spider]

200 hrs a year is pants. Four hours a week on average is of so little utility to a force that the aircraft may as well stay in the shed.

What are average weekly hours for military helicopters in peacetime?

I'm pretty sure RAF helicopters were doing about 4hrs a day in Afghanistan...though thats Ops and different rules may have applied.

[GoneToTheCanner]

Because a lot of Military flying is ad-hoc and is a reaction to a request, rather than a scheduled event, like airline flying, there can be days when no flying is done because, simply, there are no tasks per individual aircraft. A huge amount of flight time is used up in actual training and preperation for displays and non-routine stuff that sucks up aircraft hours and component lives. Airlines and other commercial operators don't do that kind of stuff except on very special occasions BUT airlines and commercial users don't allow the manufacturer to take the piss. If Thales can't deliver flight computers or Airbus can't deliver composite doors or panels, the airlines will shop elsewhere and the manufacturers would rather eat shit than allow the opposition to gain a foothold, so pressure will be put on suppliers to get the finger out. Another problem is that European built helicopters are sourced from a small, incestuous pool of companies and their staffs, so between the French, Italians and Brits, the same few companies are competing for contracts and the NH90 and AW series and EH 101 are all originating from the same pool, which are all tied into Airbus, directly or indirectly and with side tie-ins to Bell. If it's not Airbus, it's BAe or Dassault, which is essentially a triumvirate and a closed shop. The fact that NH90 is a ball of shite and the Tiger not much better is an indictment of bad work from Europe. Airbus should hang it's head in shame that two helicopter programmes have fallen asunder.