Eurocopter Greets the Maiden Flight of the First Patria assembled NH90 helicopter
The first Patria assembled NH90 helicopter, KH-202, has made its successful maiden flight in Halli, Jämsä today, on July 13.
Marignane, 13 July 2005
The flight time was 65 minutes. The maiden flight was performed by Eurocopter’s flight test crew:
* Didier GUERIN experimental test pilot,
* Nicolas CERTAIN flight test engineer,
* François ROSTAING flight engineer.
Michel Lombardo, Production Director from Eurocopter says “This phase of the programme shows in practise that cooperation with Patria Aviation has been successful and the decisions made in 2001 to create assembly line to Patria have been correct. This event has shown the ability of Patria to perform the assembly and tests for the complex helicopters and Eurocopter’s mastery command relevant to the external assembly line fitting out
Patria assembles 50 NH90 helicopters as a subcontractor to Eurocopter S.A.S., Marignane, France. This first helicopter from Patria assembly line will be delivered to the Finnish Defence Forces.
The main modules were supplied to Patria from NHI Partner Companies: Eurocopter France, Eurocopter Germany, Agusta Italy and Fokker the Netherlands.
Splicing Phase of KH-202 was completed in October 2003, Installations during 2004 and System tests were started in January 2005.
The NH90 is currently the most modern helicopter in its category. It is the world’s first production helicopter with a full fly-by-wire control system, a crash resistant all-composite airframe, completely integrated aircraft/avionics/mission systems; and a series of the most up-to date systems available for performing the multi-purpose operations and multi-national cooperation tasks, which are fundamental to modern military scenarios.
“The helicopter assembly enables Patria to establish maintenance and repair capabilities that can be used to support the NH90 fleet during the entire life cycle of the helicopters. The fact that Patria has been successfully assembled the NH90 helicopters creates a long term partnership between Patria and the NH90 Industrial team and strengthens Patria’s role as a Nordic helicopter support centre”, says Mr Jorma Wiitakorpi, President and CEO of Patria.
The NH90 helicopter assembly contract calls for a series production of a minimum of 50 helicopters. The employment effect is approximately 650 man-years. The deliveries will be completed by 2011.
Patria is an internationally operating Aerospace and Defence Group with significant positions in the Nordic countries and the Baltic Sea region. Patria´s main business areas are armoured wheeled vehicles, mortars and field gun systems and their life cycle support as well as life cycle support of helicopters and aircraft. Patria delivers European solutions to global markets, such as the Patria AMV vehicle and AMOS mortar system. Patria’s owners are the Finnish State and EADS, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company.
NHIndustries: The four Partner Companies currently share NHIndustries and NH90 Programme as follows: EUROCOPTER (France/Germany) 62,50%, AGUSTA (Italy) 32.00%, STORK FOKKER Aerospace B.V. (the Netherlands) 5.50%
Eurocopter is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS. EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2004, EADS generated revenues of € 31.8 billion and employed a workforce of about 110,000. The EADS Group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the international leader in missile systems. EADS is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is the largest industrial partner for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.
For further information, please contact:
Jean-Louis ESPES
Eurocopter
Tel.: + 33 (0) 4 42 85 95 55
Fax: + 33 (0) 4 42 85 95 64
mailto: jean-louis.espes@eurocopter.com
Christina GOTZHEIN
Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH
Tel.: + 49 (0) 89 60 00 64 88
Fax: + 49 (0) 89 60 00 44 37
mailto: christina.gotzhein@eurocopter.com
Jesus RUIZ
Eurocopter España, S.A.
Tel.: + 34 91 511 04 70
Fax: + 34 91 511 04 69
mailto: jesus.ruiz@eurocopter.es
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