In what appears to be a low-risk move, Airbus Helicopters has unveiled a new platform, the H140, that will occupy the space between its strong-selling H135 and H145 light-twins.
Featuring a five-blade main rotor, the H140 also gains a new powerplant, the 700shp (520kW)-rated Safran Helicopter Engines Arrius 2E, a T-tail, a larger cabin, an improved Fenestron shrouded tail rotor, and a clutch of other enhancements. Service entry is targeted for 2028.
Maximum take-off weight will sit at 3,175kg (7,000lb) – the upper limit for the CS-27 small rotorcraft category – against 2,980kg for the H135 from which it is derived.
“The idea for this programme is clearly to raise the bar in terms of performance, technology and value in the light-twin segment,” says Airbus Helicopters chief executive Bruno Even.
“We expect a lot from the introduction of this new programme”, he says, adding that it will also benefit “from the maturity and the reliability of our existing product range”.
Suspicions that a launch was imminent intensified over the past year after what appeared to be a heavily modified H135 – most obviously sporting a five-blade main rotor – was frequently photographed at the airframer’s Donauworth plant in southern Germany.
Even had always been reluctant to discuss the sightings – frequently hinting it was a technology demonstrator – and the exact nature of the programme had remained elusive.
But briefing journalists one week ahead of the official 11 March unveiling, programme chief Dirk Petry confirmed that work on the programme had begun in 2021, with the first prototype flying in June 2023.
While it will be a derivative of the current H135 – a marketing name for the type’s official EC135 designation – the H140 features significant changes over its parent.
Many of these were initially validated on the manufacturer’s EC135-based Bluecopter technology demonstrator last decade – a helicopter that is still displayed at the entrance to the Donauworth site.
“When we formulated the H140 it was important to bring in what we have developed in the past in terms of technology and to keep the operating cost at a very low level, very close to the one of the H135 we have today,” says Petry.
It is, he says, “defined by a large cabin and the incorporation of the optimum [mix] of innovations, performance and economics” to address customer feedback, particularly from the emergency medical services (EMS) segment, its launch market. In fact, input from EMS operators was sought during the design process.
“By incorporating these innovations, we were able to design and finally deliver an aircraft that is offering this large space that is needed by the market and also offering a high performance level with it.”
The additional cabin volume - 6.10cu m against 5.04cu m on the H135 – has been achieved through a 20cm (7.8in) stretch of the fuselage alongside other interior tweaks, such as the removal of the central pillar aft of the crew.
Sliding side doors that are 10cm wider than those on the H135 and a rear clamshell door also ease loading and unloading of stretchers.
Beyond the benefits for EMS operations, the more spacious cabin will comfortably accommodate six passenger seats in a transport configuration.
The rear windows are also larger than those on the H135 and can now serve as emergency exits. “You can use the complete [six-seat] capacity for offshore operations,” says Petry.
But for all the interior enhancements, it is the external changes that are the most eye-catching.
The 10.8m-diameter five-blade main rotor is the same design as that on the larger H145 but is some 10-20kg lighter and spins more slowly. The rotor also sits 10cm higher than that on the H135.
Featuring four stators and 10 blades, the new Fenestron is also larger than the H135’s design, delivering a significant increase in yaw control while also being “optimised for noise emissions”, says Petry.
By moving the horizontal stabiliser out of the main rotor downwash, the T-tail increases hover performance by 80kg, while the tail boom is also raised versus the H135 for better access.
Airbus Helicopters has also made extensive use of composite material on the H140 – a specialism of the Donauworth plant – “to reduce the weight of the platform to a minimum”.
It will additionally improve the ease of manufacturing. For example, both the tail boom and Fenestron surround are “one-shot” parts made via resin transfer moulding.
Although there are similarities with the Bluecopter, not everything tested on that platform has made its way on to the H140. For instance, the distinctive rotor hub fairing is absent: its benefits were outweighed by the cost and weight, says Petry.
Other elements have been optimised: the horizontal stabiliser is now swept-back rather than straight and features downturned tips.
Petry describes the FADEC-equipped 2E-variant engines as “the next step in the development of the Arrius”, offering more power, better fuel efficient and a significantly reduced maintenance burden compared with the H135’s 2B2+-standard powerplants.
In the cockpit, the avionics are Airbus Helicopters’ well-regarded Helionix suite, including a four-axis autopilot.
Cruise speed is a “significant step-up” from H135, says Petry, rising to 155kt (287km/h) from 140kt, due to the “aerodynamic optimisation” of the airframe, particularly around the clamshell doors.
However, unlike the H135, which is offered with either the Safran powerplants or Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206B3s, there will be no engine choice on the H140.
Developing a helicopter with engines from two different manufacturers means “you are duplicating the development and flight-test efforts” says Petry. “We believe that by offering a single engine type our customers can purchase the best solution in terms of economics.”
Safran was selected at the single-source supplier following a competitive tender, he adds.
“With the H140 we want to bring more value and extend the capability but also be as competitive as we can. It is the right decision to have only one [engine] type,” says Even.
Airbus Helicopters is targeting service entry in 2028 for an EMS-roled H140, with four other variants – passenger transport, VIP, offshore/windfarm and law-enforcement – following at one-year intervals.
However, no military M model will be developed, says Even. “When we looked at the military version of the H135 we saw that it was mainly about training. We consider the H135 will continue to deliver the right mission with the best cost for the market.”
With the H140 nestling between the H135 and H145, Even argues it will complement rather than compete with or replace the existing product range and will “raise the bar” for the light-twin segment.
“At the moment we are listening to the market,” he says, offering an aircraft that is designed to match “customer expectations”.
“It is our priority and strategy to bring value and choice to our customers,” he says, while increasing market share “is not the goal”.
“If it so successful that it takes some share from our own products that’s fine”.
With service-entry just three years away flight testing is ramping up following a pause last year.
Petry says the first prototype (D-HEEY) was initially flown in a hybrid configuration, featuring the external changes “to gain feedback on the architecture” but using the Arrius 2B2+ engines and main gearbox from the H135.
Running until the end of 2023, the end of the first test phase saw the helicopter then laid up for the extensive modifications required to turn it into a true H140, resuming flying late in 2024.
“It flies beautifully” even without the autopilot engaged, says chief test pilot Volker Bau. “We are talking about the raw aircraft.”
“We have never had so few development problems with a prototype aircraft,” he adds. To date, the programme has accumulated around 55 flight hours and envelope expansion work is almost complete.
A second test asset will arrive later this year, with two more to follow in 2026, the last of which will be a production-representative example.
Final assembly of the H140 will take place on the airframer’s existing mixed H135/H145 line in Donauworth, using the industrial system pioneered on the medium-class H160. That sees large sections of the helicopter – major component assemblies (MCAs) – built at Airbus Helicopters sites in France, Germany and Spain and then shipped, pre-wired, to a final assembly line.
Petry says final assembly of the H140 will be simpler than for the H135 or H145 as from the outset it was “designed under the boundary conditions of the industrial set up”.
