TMB16 РAirbus Helicopter Deutschland in Donauw̦rth.

 

DONAUWÖRTH – With its 22 900 employees, Airbus Helicopter has a turnover of 6,8 billions Euros in 2015. With 29 customers service ceters, it is serving 3010 operators in 152 countries.

Airbus Helicopters develops, sells and maintin the world’s most comprehensive range of helicopters, reaching from the single-engine lightweight class and twin-engine light and middleweight machines to transport helicopters of the 11-yon-class.

With a market share of 45 per cent on the civil and parapublic market, Airbus Helicopters is number one in front of Bell Helicopter (19,5%) and Leonardo Helicopters, formerly known as Finmeccanica Helicopters and AgustaWestland (18,5%), and with a market of 9 percent on the military, Airbus Helicopter ranks four behind Sikorsky (22%), Russian Helicopters (19,5%) and Boeing (13,5%).

Its sales are divided equally between military and civil markets.  Support and services represent 47% of its income and exports, 70% of Airbus Helicopters sales.

Airbus Helicopter line of civilian helicopters is made of :

Single engine : H120, H125 and H130

Light Twin : AS355, H135, H145.

Twin Medium : AS365, H155, H175

Medium / Heavy : AS332, H225.

Its military portfolio is made of :

Light helicopter : H125M, H135M, H645M

Helicopter middle weight class : AS565

Helicopter middle weight / heavy class : AS532, H225M

Special Helicopter : EC665 Tiger, NH90.

They fulfills roles in reconnaissance, convoy protection, antitank, sea fight, search and rescue, boarding, special operation, forward air medevac, tactical airlift.

Second largest Airbus Helicopter facilities behind Marignane in southern France, Airbus Helicopter Deutschland is located in Donauwörth in Northern Swabia, some 120km Northwest of Munich.

Largest employer in the region with more than 7000 employees worked in Airbus Helicopters facilities in Donauwörth which has already delivered more than 11 930 helicopters to 3010 operators in 149 countries.

Born from the merging of WMD and SIAT in 1956, Messerschmidt Bölkow Blohm GmbH or MBB took advantage of the end of the post-war ban on building aircraft to get involved in aviation.

MBB made the rotor blades for the Bell UH-1D and Sikorsky CH-53G built under licence in West Germany. In 1978, it will etablish an assembly line in Donauwörth for the first German-made twin engine helicopter, the Bo105.

In 1992, MBB and Aérospatiale from France merged to give birth to Eurocopter which helicopters will adopt the EC designation.  Following the renaming of Eurocopter for Airbus Helicopter, the helicopter designation were adapter from EC to H with some exceptions.

This large facilities is taking care of the maintenance and overhaul of all German armed forces helicopters which means more than 250 aircraft not only built by Airbus Helicopter but also by foreign manufacturers like Bundeswehr Westland-built Sikorky Sea King Mk4 and VFW-Fokker-built Sikorsky CH-53G.

Besides two assembly lines, one military and one civilian, the Airbus campus in Donauwörth hosts a development center, a training academy and training workshop, a civil maintenance center, a customer center, a competence center composite as well as a shop building doors for Airbus commercial jetliners.

The training academy located next to the production line, offers training for pilots and mechanics. It encompasses a H135 full-flight simulator.

With the expansion of this facility research capabilities, Airbus Helicopters in Donauwörth becomes the epicentre of the German helicopter industry.

Its engineering teams are focusing on the development of composites not only for Airbus Helicopter but also for all branches of Airbus.

The H135, H145, EC665 Tiger, NH90 FAM and NH90 Sea Lion are built in Donauwörth.

Every part of the twin-engine lightweight H135, formerly known as the EC135 is manufactured in Donauwörth.

More than 1200 has been built since its introduction in 1996 becoming the leader on its market segment. An upgraded version was introduced in 2014.

Its military version carries the designation H135M.

The H145 is the successor of the EC145/BK-117 which has been developped in cooperation with Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan.

Airbus Helicopter is responsible for the manufacturing of the tail boom, the dynamic system, the installation of the engines and the final assembly as well in many cases the interior.

A truly multi-mission helicopter, the H145 is deployed around the world for search and rescue, VIP transport, law and enforcement, and even like in the case of the US Army UH-72A Lakota for military light utility missions.

A military version version of the H145 is called H145M.

The site is also responsible for the production of the fuselage of the all new H160 which is assembled in Airbus Helicopter plant in Marignane.

Two important military programs are located in Donauwörth : the EC665 Tiger attack helicopter and the NH90 offered in two versions : TTH for Tactical Transport Helicopter and NFH for NATO Fregate Helicopter.

On the Tiger, Donauwörth is responsible for the manufacturing of the front-end module as well as the carbon-made rotor blades and the final assembly of the Tiger UHT ordered by the German Army.

Concerning the NH90, a collaboration between Airbus Helicopters, Agusta from Italy and Stork Fokker from the Netherlands, Airbus Helicopter German facilities supplie the front and center modules as well as the control and fuel systems of all NH90. The assembly of the German Army TTH and German Navy NFH as well as Sweden and Belgium NFH is done in Donauwörth.

A total of 500 NH90 has been ordered yet by 14 nations.

At the time of the visit of the plant on July, the21st, the first of the 18 NTH90 Sea Lion ordered to replace German Navy Westland Sea King MK41 was on the assembly line. It is scheduled fo a first flight in the fourth quarter of this yer. Deliveries will take place between October 2019 and 2022.

Airbus Helicopters is considering offering an anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare version to replace German Navy Westland Sea Lynx Mk88.

Airbus Helicopter Donauwörth still offers maintenance for the out-of-production Bo-105 which was the bedrock of the German helicopter industry and MBB.

The site is also a hub for overhaul and retrofit of Airbus Helicopter including modifications for special missions.

 

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