Rotorcraft
Avicopter and Airbus Launch Joint Helicopter Production
First deliveries of the EC175 are planned for this year, but customers won’t receive the AC352 until 2017 at the earliest.

Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter) and China’s Avicopter, partners in thedevelopment of the EC175 and AC352 medium-twin helicopters, signed an agreement last month for the production of 1,000 of the two models. The agreement is valued at $21 billion over 20 years, with each airframer expecting to assemble approximately 500helicopters.