It turns out that constructing a standard hangar for combat helicopters involves considerable expenses, as evidenced by the Spanish Ministry of Defense's tender for such a facility.
These works are commissioned as part of preparations for the deployment of additional NATO forces on the eastern flank, specifically in this case - in Slovakia at the Kuchyňa airbase, located in the western part of the country near the Austrian border.
The cost of the work, as reported by Infodefensa citing tender documents, is €977,791 including taxes. The completion of the project is expected two months after the contract is signed. This involves a standard hangar for helicopter maintenance, equipped with additional features such as air conditioning, lighting, fire safety systems, and more.
Only after this will Spanish helicopters be able to appear in Slovakia, a decision made in mid-2024. Initially, it is planned to deploy two Tiger attack helicopters and one NH90 transport helicopter, but later the contingent of Spanish forces will expand to include one more Tiger and one more NH90.
For their operation, a contingent of approximately 100 military personnel is required. This means that for five helicopters, with crews of two each, totaling 10 pilots, there will be 90 additional staff members.
It should be noted that for Spain, the plan to send a total of 3 Tigers and 3 NH90s is not insignificant, as the country currently has 18 Tiger helicopters (all of which are attack helicopters) and 15 NH90s (with 85 transport helicopters of various types in service). However, the timelines for implementation and associated costs may raise questions.
One could also reference the year 1999, when the U.S. spent over 500 C-17 flights to transport approximately 20,000 tons of cargo to an airbase near Tirana for the deployment of 24 AH-64 Apache helicopters, as well as 26 UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters in Albania during the operation in Yugoslavia. While the exact costs at that time were not calculated, this provides a basis for understanding the expenses involved in deploying helicopters at new airbases.
Additionally, it is worth mentioning that neither the Tiger nor the NH90 are problem-free helicopters. In particular, half of the operators plan to discontinue the Tiger, including Australia and Germany, leaving it only in France apart from Spain. Meanwhile, the NH90 has a rather unpleasant history of scandals, although there are now potential orders for up to 100 such helicopters.