Sweden's armed forces have taken delivery of the final series-production NH90 helicopter. The Swedish Defense Material Agency (FMV), the national defense procurement agency, handed over the 18th and final unit to the armed forces in July.

NH-90 (Picture source: NH Industries)

Sweden ordered the 18 helicopters from NH Industries back in September 2001. That contract called for 13 units to be produced in the tactical transport helicopter/search-and-rescue (TTH/SAR) configuration, and an additional five built in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) configuration.

The timeline set forth by the FMV called for the entire complement of Swedish NH90s -- designated Helikopter 14 (HKP 14) in Swedish service -- to be fully operational by 2008.

Instead the program was beset with delays.

The Swedish Air Force only received its first complement of NH90s in Initial Operational Capability (IOC) configuration (four basic configuration models, consisting of two HKP 14As and two HKP 14Bs) in April 2011. One "enhanced basic" model HKP 14C followed shortly thereafter.

Delivery of the first full-mission standard NH90 (referred to as HKP 14D) finally occurred on December 17, 2013. Most of these were then retrofitted to the newest E (land-role) standard.

The first ASW-mission HKP 14F variant was not delivered until December 17, 2015.

Currently four HKP 14E models are being converted to ASW configuration in a process that started in late 2016 and will run through 2020. This will provide the military with a balanced fleet of nine HKP 14E ground operation types and nine HKP 14F ASW-specific models.