Airbus Helicopters has revealed two new military rotorcraft concepts as part of efforts to help NATO modernize its medium-lift helicopter fleet for the 2030s.
The proposals, a high-performance conventional helicopter and a high-speed compound design, were shown to alliance officials as part of the ongoing Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) study.
Under the NGRC program, NATO aims to replace ageing medium-lift multi-role helicopters that many member nations currently operate. These aircraft, like the longstanding NHIndustries NH90, are expected to reach the end of their service lives between 2035 and 2040.
The alliance has set broad performance goals for successor aircraft. The NGRC seeks a rotorcraft with a range of more than 900 nautical miles (about 1,670 km), a cruise speed target near 220 knots (407 km/h), and the ability to carry 12-16 combat-equipped troops or roughly four tonnes of payload, all at a fly-away unit cost near €35 million and controlled operating costs. The specification also calls for pilot-optional autonomy or remote piloting capability.
In July 2024, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) awarded Airbus Helicopters a contract to lead a concept study for a medium-multi-role helicopter under the NGRC framework, tasking the company with early design work and collaboration with allied partners.
Two paths for future military rotorcraft
Airbus’s dual proposals reflect different strategic approaches. The first concept is a conventional helicopter architecture that builds on traditional rotorcraft design principles, but with significant modernization. It is intended to be reliable, cost-efficient to operate, and easy to maintain, particularly in austere environments where advanced repair facilities may be absent.Â
According to a report by New Atlas, this design emphasizes reduced acoustic signature, simplified maintenance and supply chains, and improved safety features such as a novel anti-torque tail rotor and advanced rotor system technology, aimed at reducing vibration and noise.
While specific details of Airbus’s conventional proposal have not been fully disclosed by the company, evolutionary designs often retain commonality with existing platforms. A strategy that can lower technical risk and help drive down lifecycle costs.
The second Airbus concept is a high-speed compound rotorcraft that blends helicopter lift with fixed-wing performance. Drawing on Airbus’s experience with experimental aircraft like the RACER demonstrator (itself derived from the X³ compound prototype), this design features a wing to offload lift at high speed and lateral pusher propellers to generate forward thrust.
This compound configuration, sometimes described as a box-wing or wing-enhanced rotorcraft, allows the main rotor to slow in forward flight, reducing drag and permitting greater cruise speeds than conventional helicopters. Flight tests with previous demonstrators have shown benefits such as rapid acceleration, deceleration, and extended flight envelopes. Capabilities that could make such a platform suited to long-range, high-speed missions.
Airbus argues that the two concepts were designed around a modular open systems architecture, allowing them to share common systems, maintenance procedures, training pipelines, and weapons integration frameworks. This shared architecture is intended to reduce duplication, streamline support, and maintain affordability over decades of operation.
NATO’s requirements and optionsÂ
In light of changing global threats and missions, the NGRC initiative has specific rotorcraft requirements. NATO and its partners have emphasized the need for greater connectivity, digital integration, and autonomous teaming between crewed and uncrewed systems. Airbus has highlighted that its concepts include these attributes, including capabilities for crewed-uncrewed teaming and integrated survivability systems.
While Airbus is one of several companies working on NGRC concept studies, competitors such as Leonardo and Lockheed Martin Sikorsky are pursuing their own innovative designs. The alliance’s ultimate decisions on procurement and production still lie ahead as studies progress into the late 2020s.
As NATO weighs options, the two Airbus concepts offer the alliance a choice between evolutionary enhancements of established helicopter technology and more transformative high-speed compound solutions.Â