Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the status is of the Future Medium Lift Helicopter programme as of 5 July 2022; and how that programme aligns with the Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability Project.

Competition for the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) is ongoing. The Contract Notice and Dynamic Pre-Qualification Questionnaire were released on 18 May 22. For reasons of commercial sensitivity it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.

The UK is fully engaged with the NATO Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) project in order to develop options for potential replacements for our current and planned fleets of Medium helicopters. NATO NGRC is anticipated to enter service from circa 2035. NGRC may be a potential candidate to replace the Merlin helicopter as it reaches its planned Out of Service Date (OSD) of 2040 and also the NMH once its OSD has been established.