Airbus Picks Vemagal As India's H125 Final Assembly Line Site
Airbus Helicopters has named the town of Vemagal in Karnataka near Bengaluru, India, as the location of a new final assembly line (FAL) for the company’s H125 single-engine light helicopter, in conjunction with Tata Advanced Systems Limited.
The company has also confirmed it plans to offer the locally produced helicopter to potentially meet an Indian Armed Forces requirement for a light multirole helicopter.
This version, dubbed H125M, would be produced with “high levels of indigenized components and technologies,” the airframer said.
Until now, Airbus had said it was specifically targeting new commercial and parapublic markets in India for the aircraft, notably emergency medical service and law enforcement missions.
The multirole helicopter requirement would replace HAL Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, license-built derivatives of the Aerospatiale Lama and Alouette III, respectively. Airbus said the H125M would be an “ideal successor to these helicopters.”
The company noted that an earlier version of the H125 is the only helicopter to have landed on Mount Everest, demonstrating its agility in operating in high-altitude, extreme environments.
“India is an ideal helicopter country,” said Jürgen Westermeier, president and managing director, Airbus India and South Asia. “A ‘Made in India’ helicopter will help develop this market and position helicopters as an essential tool for nation-building.”
Airbus already has a close association with Tata, assembling the C295 twin-turboprop airlifter in-country at Vadodara.
Tata already has a facility in Vemagal. Once adapted to become the H125 FAL, it will perform manufacturing and testing of H125 helicopters including assembly, integration and trials of structural electrical systems and components into a complete helicopter. The facility will also carry out final flight tests required before the delivery of the helicopter to customers.
First deliveries from the Indian FAL are expected in 2027. Helicopters assembled at the Indian FAL will also be available for export to South Asian countries.
Airbus is hoping the Indian H125 will open a new chapter in the fortunes of the rotorcraft, which is the company’s best-selling aircraft, with the 7,000th example being delivered in July 2022. The aircraft has evolved from Aerospatiale’s AS350 Ecureuil, marketed in the U.S. as the AStar, which first flew in 1974.<\/p>
The H125 is currently assembled at three locations: the main FAL at Airbus’ site in Marignane, France; Airbus Helicopters’ U.S. operation in Columbus, Mississippi; and by Helibras at Itajuba, Brazil. The U.S. site currently assembles around 10% of annual H125 output a year, while Itajuba builds just a handful of aircraft per year.
