Airbus Helicopters Fennec Airbus Helicopters will team with India's Mahindra Group subsidiary, Mahindra Defence, to produce helico...
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| Airbus Helicopters Fennec |
Airbus Helicopters will team with India's Mahindra Group subsidiary, Mahindra Defence, to produce helicopters in India for Indian armed forces.
Both companies will now get into discussions to finalize the formation of the joint venture which will act as the prime contractor for India's military helicopter tenders including the Reconnaissance and Surveillance Helicopter (RSH), the Naval Utility Helicopter and the Naval Multirole Helicopter procurement programs.
The resulting joint venture aims to become the first private Indian helicopter manufacturer under the 'Make in India' initiative. This will create hundreds of high-tech jobs locally and lead to a flow of cutting edge technologies to India should it be selected in the governmental helicopter tenders.
Airbus Helicopter's single-engined AS550 C3 Fennec has demonstrated its capacity for the Indian Army and Air Force’s RSH tender, exhibiting the rotorcraft’s excellent performance in Indian field evaluation trials. But India has cancelled the tender for about 200 helicopters multiple times, due to corruption and single vendor conditions. The latest re-issued tender has total five competitors, including the homegrown HAL Light Utility Helicopter.
Airbus’s Naval Panther helicopter has been offered to the Indian Coast Guard’s ship-based light/medium helicopter requirement, as well as the Indian Navy’s anticipated acquisition of utility helicopters. The Naval Panther offered to India is a improved version of the AS565 MBe Daulphin.
The AS565 MBe Naval Panther is an all-weather, multi-role light helicopter tailored for operations from ship decks, offshore platforms and land bases, with demonstrated capabilities to cover the entire range of Indian Navy and Coast Guard mission requirements – including maritime surveillance, search and rescue, offshore patrolling and counter-terrorism, casualty evacuation and vertical replenishment.
Mahindra Aerospace has led the Mahindra Group's foray into utility aircraft and aerostructure manufacturing since 2008. Its utility aircraft business, based in Australia, currently produces the Airvan 8, the most capable, rugged and versatile utility aircraft in its class. Certified in 38 countries, over 200 are in service. Mahindra Aerospace is also developing a 10-seat turboprop, the Airvan 10, which is scheduled for certification in 2015.
