Russian Helicopters, which designs and manufactures civil and military rotorcraft, will jointly produce a new light helicopter with Europe’s AugustaWestland after the two companies sign an agreement at Britain’s Farnborough air show this week, Russian Helicopters CEO Dmitry Petrov said on Monday.
“We will design the helicopter together with AugustaWestland,” Petrov told a news conference, adding that the first model of the new civil helicopter would be made in 2015.
A working group for design of the new helicopter, which will have a budget of around 100 million euros, will start work soon, Petrov added.
The design of the new light helicopter does not mean the company will stop production of other light helicopters such as the Kamov Ka-226 or Mi-34, Russian Helicopters spokesman Roman Kirillov told RIA Novosti.
“The start of new projects does not mean they will replace current ones. We are widening our model range by the international projects such as we have with AugustaWestland,” Kirillov said.
He did not disclose the new machine’s name or its weight class.
The two companies signed a 20 million euro joint venture deal in June 2011 to assemble AW139 medium twin engine helicopters in Russia.
AgustaWestland’s 4.5 ton-class AW169 made its first appearance at Farnborough on Monday.
Light helicopters are the fastest-growing segment of the Russian civil helicopter market, with strong demand from oil companies, private users and air transport companies.