Europe’s Leading Fully-Integrated Aeronautical Group Specializes in Helicopter Manufacturing and Development

Why Europe is Leading in Helicopter Manufacturing:

The Eurocopter Group is a worldwide helicopter manufacturing and development company. They are the largest company in the industry in terms of revenues as well as turbine helicopter deliveries. The Eurocopter Group was formed from a merger of the helicopter divisions of Aerospatiale and Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG in 1992. This company has the ingenuity of the French and the Germans due to this merger. Eurocopter has been the leading pioneer in many helicopter breakthroughs, such as the first production turbo shaft-powered helicopter in 1955; the first Fenestron shrouded tail rotor in 1968; the very first helicopter completely certified for full flight in icing conditions in 1984; the first production helicopter with a Fly-by-Wire control system in 2003; the first helicopter to use a Fly-by-Light control system in 2003 also; and lastly, the first ever landing of a helicopter on top of Mount Everest in 2005. Eurocopter is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS due to a merger of the group in 2000.

Eurocopter has over 30 plants around the world, with 7 in the European Union, and over 20 subsidiaries around the world. There are currently over 10,500 Eurocopter aircrafts in service with over 2,800 customers globally. Eurocopter delivered over 500 helicopters in 2011 alone. Eurocopter produces helicopters for many different industries, including law enforcement agencies, the United States Army, the United States Coast Guard, Customs and Border Patrol, FBI, corporate and business customers, hospitals and emergency medical services and even tourism operators.

American Eurocopter is a market leader in our nation, with a constant 50% share of helicopter sales to the United States law enforcement sector. The company's government sector presence has drastically grown in the last few years. Eurocopter now has aircrafts in service within 75 agencies across the country including major federal operators, such as the Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The United States Coast Guard has around 100 helicopters in service and the United States Army plans on acquiring around 350 more aircrafts.

As a side note, on Eurocopter helicopters designed in France, the main rotor spins clockwise; however, in Eurocopter helicopters designed in Germany, the main rotor spins the counter clockwise.