Germany's border guard is to receive the first of 13 Eurocopter EC155 twin-engine medium helicopters this year.
Eurocopter co-president Siegfried Sobotta says the group is putting a "tremendous effort" into getting the first of the EC155s to the border guard this year. The EC155 is a further development of the Eurocopter Dauphin.
He adds that, after a lean period in helicopter manufacturing, the group is now in the embarrassing position of struggling to meet potential customers' desired delivery dates on some of its aircraft.
"We are still having some problems in responding to customer demands, and we need to improve delivery," he says. With this in mind, the production rate of some models, such as the EC155, and EC135, may be stepped up.
The Franco-German helicopter group was also boosted on the military manufacturing side with the production go-ahead for the Tiger attack helicopter. The countries' national procurement agencies signed a memorandum of understanding at the show covering the production of 160 Tigers.
The Saxonian ministry of the interior is to purchase an EC135 light twin to replace a Mil Mi-2.
Source: Flight International
