The formation flight of the first three NH90 helicopters of the Spanish Navy

The NH90 MSPT helicopters of the 14th Squadron of the Spanish Navy continue their process to acquire their full operational capability.

The new features of the NH90 helicopters from the second batch of the Spanish Navy
The 14th Squadron of the Spanish Navy receives its third NH90 MSPT helicopter

As we saw here, the first two NH90 MSPT helicopters were delivered to the Spanish Navy in May 2025. These first two helicopters are the HT.29-40 (10346, 01-14-02) and the HT.29-41 (10347, 01-14-03). The NH90 MSPT is nicknamed "Sable" in the Spanish Navy, which is the radio call sign of the aforementioned 14th Squadron, a unit created in May 2024 and which received the personnel of the former 3rd Squadron, dissolved on July 30, 2024, the same day that the Fleet Air Arm (FLOAN) celebrated the farewell ceremony of its AB-212 "Gato".

The Spanish Navy's third NH90 helicopter was delivered by Airbus in mid-December. This helicopter is HT.29-42 (10348, 01-14-04). Like the first two, this third helicopter is also an NH90 MSPT, a navalized version of the NH90 TTH tactical transport helicopter, which includes a reinforced landing gear for operating on ship flight decks, automatic folding systems for the main rotor blades and rear fuselage, and specific naval communications and navigation equipment.

Yesterday, Airbus Helicopters published this series of four photos of the Spanish Navy's first three NH90s. According to the Threads.com account "Marinos del Aire", the photos were taken by Alejandro Carnicero last Sunday. In the first image, we see the three aircraft on the runways of the Rota Naval Station in Cádiz, home to all units of the Spanish Navy's Air Force (FLOAN). In the other photos, we see these aircraft flying in formation over the Bay of Cádiz and over Rota, which also serves as an important air base jointly used by Spain and the United States. In fact, in the photo above, we can see a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in the background.

This first batch of NH90 MSPT helicopters will consist of seven units. The delivery of the last four is scheduled for this year. These helicopters can transport up to 20 fully equipped soldiers or a light vehicle, which can be loaded from the aircraft's rear ramp. Their primary missions are troop transport and special operations. Furthermore, all indications are that they will also be used in search and rescue missions. In fact, in these photos we can see that HT.29-40 (10346, 01-14-02), one of the helicopters delivered in May 2025, has been equipped with a rescue hoist, located high on its starboard wing.

On December 18, Airbus confirmed the acquisition by Spain of 6 additional NH90s for the Navy, bringing the total number of helicopters the FLOAN will operate to 13. As we saw here five days later, the NH90s of the second batch will also be MSPTs but with some improvements, such as the Safran Group's Eurofl'Eye Distributed Aperture System (DAS), the Safran Euroflir 410 electro-optical system (EOS), and gunner positions in the rear windows of the troop compartment. With these improvements, the Spanish NH90 MSPTs of the second batch will have capabilities very similar to the French Army's NH90 Standard 2 special operations helicopters.