FLYING HIGH: An Ecureuil helicopter

BANGALORE: State-owned aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is all set to become a first line partner for the global supply chain of the world's leading helicopter maker, Eurocopter.

HAL, which inked a contract last year to supply 100 airframe sections (front cabin) every year for Eurocopter's flagship Ecureuil / Fennec helicopters, has now agreed to scale up its production package by 100 per cent.

HAL will figure prominently in Eurocopter's plans to make the most of the booming global market for helicopters.

"There is a huge demand for helicopters across the world for emergency medical service, search and rescue operations and police operations besides the usual civil and military applications. In India, we see a 20 per cent growth in the civilian market for helicopters. Besides, the old helicopters have to be replaced.

Three hundred to 400 Cheetah / Chetak helicopters will require replacements," Eurocopter's Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing-Asia Pacific) Norbert Ducrot told The Hindu that the enlarged cooperation would create about 150 high-quality jobs for Bangalore-based technicians for more than 10 years. The first delivery of the airframe made by HAL is expected early next year.

HAL and Eurocopter, Mr. Ducrot said, had worked together for over 40 years on the Cheetah and Chetak platforms. "Since the 1960s, HAL has manufactured around 600 Chetaks and Cheetahs, the legendary predecessors to the Ecureil / Fennec aircraft, under licence from Eurocopter," he said.

Under the latest agreement, Eurocopter will enlarge the scope of the contract for supply of latest technologies in metal and composite work to HAL. Ecureuil is Eurocopter's bestseller. "Every second day, one Ecureuil (civil version) or Fennec (military version name) leaves the final assembly lines," Mr. Ducrot said.

The Ecureuil had emerged as the first and only helicopter in the world to successfully land atop the Mount Everest at an altitude of 8,848 metres in May 2005.

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