AgustaWestland stole a significant march on its rivals yesterday by confirming that AW139 helicopters are to be manufactured and assembled in Russia under its fledgling agreement with Oboronprom.
The deal is a first for a Western manufacturer and will open up a hugely lucrative market for AgustaWestland, particularly in the oil and gas sector. Crucially, the 50:50 joint venture will offer Western technology that is also built in Russia.
The heads of agreement, announced at Farnborough, will involve the creation of a new final assembly facility outside Moscow to deliver aircraft for Russian and CIS civil markets.
Assembly operations will begin as early as 2010, with the first aircraft fielded in 2011. The two companies said they would also consider co-development of a new helicopter, but only after establishing the initial manufacturing capability.
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“The market in Russia is growing month by month in Russia, not just year by year,” says AgustaWestland chief executive Giuseppe Orsi. “We believe it is very important to have an industrial presence in Russia. We want to be there.”
The collaboration will develop in stages, with assembly operations leading to full scale manufacture at a later date. “We want to expand very aggressively,” explains Andrei Reus, general director of Oboronprom, the Russian industrial investment group.
“We are aiming to produce 24 aircraft a year initially, but this is just the start of our agreement. It is critical that we move quickly because the market is already there. We will find further ways to work together. AgustaWestland will lead on the programme management because they are very strong in this area, but the agreement is 50:50.”
Referring to the strategic advantage that the presence in Russia will give to AgustaWestland, Orsi said: “We were not the only company which wanted to work with Oboronprom. By choosing to work with each other we now have a very important opportunity to modernise Russia’s helicopter industry and to capitalise on a market that is growing very quickly.”
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Source: Flight International
