Chinese Firm Teams With Sikorsky

Sikorsky and China Aviation Industry Corp. II (AVIC II) recently struck a deal to jointly develop and build civil helicopters. The companies will also explore establishing AVIC II subsidiary Changhe Aircraft Industry as a second production source of S-76 fuselages. (Aero Vodochody in the Czech Republic is currently the sole vendor for these structures.) Specifically, Sikorsky and AVIC II will discuss new product development, engineering design and analysis, manufacturing, assembly and flight test for helicopters in the light, intermediate and medium categories. Sikorsky is already in partnership with an AVIC II subsidiary that manufactures the S-92A tail pylon, as well as China’s Shanghai Little Eagle to build components for Sikorsky subsidiary Schweizer. Every Western helicopter manufacturer now has a partnership of some kind with a Chinese aerospace firm.