Helibrás selects 12 suppliers
Valor Econômico 04/22/2009
The development of the EC-725 helicopter, recently acquired by the Brazilian Air Force, will involve the initial participation of 12 Brazilian companies, which will be the main suppliers of the project. According to the Chief Executive Officer of Helibrás, Jean Noel Hardy, two thirds of these companies are installed in the aerospace center of São José dos Campos (SP). According to the CEO of Helibrás, the Brazilian companies qualified in this program will also be allowed to export their products to other helicopters manufactured by Eurocopter, becoming a source of supply of the assembly line of the group at a worldwide level.
Among the companies that have already been confirmed as suppliers are Turbomeca (engines), Aeroeletrônica (avionics) and Mectron Engenharia (radar maintenance). The CEO of Helibrás said the gear boxes, control panel and the structural part of the helicopter will also be manufactured in Brazil. Helibrás, according to Hardy, will also be responsible for the entire training process of the personnel, tools, updating of documents and testbed. At the time of the execution of the contract with the European multinational Eurocopter, in December/2008, the Minister of Defense, Nelson Jobin, said this agreement may "make Brazil a basis of a great international market for the construction of helicopters". The agreement for the purchase of 50 helicopters from the French Eurocopter, which has 70% of the share capital of Helibrás, still foresees the setting up of a final assembly line and the performance of ground tests and flight tests of the helicopters in Brazil. The helicopters, according to the officer, will be gradually produced in Brazil until the manufacturing process gets to 50% of national content within a term of six years. The maintenance and repair of the most critical components, like engines, landing gear, avionics and gear boxes will be performed in Brazil. The investment of the company in the development and industrialization of the EC 725 helicopters in Brazil is estimated from US$ 350 million to US$ 400 million. The contract for the production of helicopters, evaluated at 1.89 billion Euros, the equivalent to R$ 5.9 billion, was signed by the Brazilian government in December of last year. The first deliveries are expected for 2010.