Philip Smart | Adelaide
Airbus Helicopters and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) will together develop two five-ton helicopters based on the Airbus H155 Dauphin, to fill South Korea’s need for both a civil and light armed military helicopter in the class.
The agreement, believed to be worth about US$1.5 billion, will cover development and production of around 300 helicopters, the majority of which will be the military version.
The civil version is expected to enter service in 2020, followed by the light armed helicopter in 2022.
The helicopter will be based on the Airbus Helicopters Dauphin, with upgraded transmission, glass cockpit and the four-axis autopilot already employed on the Airbus/KAI joint venture Surion utility helicopter, which has been in production in South Korea since 2012.
Airbus has sold more than 1000 Dauphins to more than 60 customers around the world, with the worldwide fleet having flown nearly five million flight hours.