Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) and Boeing have inaugurated an assembly line in Hyderabad that will be the exclusive source of future AH-64 Apache fuselages.
Under the Tata Boeing Aerospace (TBAL) joint venture, the fuselage sections will be produced at TASL’s production facility on the outskirts of Hyderabad, says Boeing in a statement.
The joint venture was set up in 2015, and the line will start producing fuselage sections in 2018.
New Delhi has orders for 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, with deliveries set to begin in 2019.
TASL undertakes work on a number of international programmes. Work packages include the fuselage of the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, the empennage of the Lockheed Martin C-130J, the aft fuselage and tail cone for the Boeing CH-47 Chinook, the wing assembly and other major work on the Pilatus PC-12, and major work on Ruag’s Dornier 228NG, for which it produces 3,000 detailed parts, as well as the fuselage, empennage, and wings.
It also has component work on several other programmes, including structural work on the Cobham refueling pods found on the Airbus Defence & Space A400M and Embraer KC-390.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
