Helibras or ''Helicópteros do Brasil'' S.A. (Helicopters of Brazil, Inc.) is a

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

-based

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

manufacturer which is a wholly owned subsidiary of

Airbus Helicopters Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries, holding 48% of the wo ...

, a division of

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

. Helibras has produced and delivered more than 800 helicopters, 70% of which being the Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil (known in Portuguese as ''Esquilo''). Ten percent of total production is exported to Latin American countries such as

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. Helibras leads the Brazilian market of turbine helicopters in operation, the company's rotorcraft comprising 54 per cent of those used in the civilian market. It has a greater lead within the domestic military market, the company's share being roughly 66 per cent.

History

Helibras was founded on 1 January 1978 in São Jose dos Campos, São Paulo state, Brazil. Since 1980, the company has been located in

Itajubá Itajubá is a municipality in southeastern Minas Gerais state of the Federative Republic of Brazil. It lies in a valley by the Sapucaí river and has terrain elevations ranging from 827 to 1500 metres, occupying an area of 290.45 km2 (112.14&n ...

, a city and municipality in southwestern

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

state,

. Formerly, Helibras was jointly owned by MGI ''Participações'' (MGI Investments – owned by the government of the federal state of

), Bueninvest and

Eurocopter Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trade name, trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturer, helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopte ...

. As of 2006, Helibras became a wholly owned subsidiary of Eurocopter (now

) which in turn is owned by Airbus Group. It is the only manufacturer of helicopters in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. The most numerous helicopter type to be produced by Helibras is the Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil; of the 600 helicopters that the company has domestically manufactured for the Brazilian market by 2012, 70 per cent were AS350s. Brazil has been a major market for the AS350; by 2011 more than 300 helicopters were reportedly operating throughout the country, including from the flight deck of the Brazilian aircraft carrier São Paulo."Eurocopter’s Helibras Subsidiary to Modernize 36 AS350 Ecureuil Helicopters Operated by the Brazilian Army Aviation Command.
", ''Helicopter Maintenance Magazine'', 1 February 2011. Since 1984, the

Brazilian Navy The Brazilian Navy () is the navy, naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces, responsible for conducting naval warfare, naval operations. The navy was involved in War of Independence of Brazil#Naval action, Brazil's war of independence ...

has used AS350s to support the

Brazilian Antarctic Program The Brazilian Antarctic Program (; PROANTAR) is a program of the Brazilian Navy which has presence in the continent of Antarctica. It coordinates research and the operational support for research in the region. It currently maintains a year-round ...

. In January 2011, Helibras signed a contract with the Brazilian Army to substantially upgrade and refurbish their existing fleet of 36 AS350 Ecureuils. Brazilian helicopters conduct deck landing qualifications aboard PCU America 140804-N-LQ799-090

Brazilian helicopters conduct deck landing qualifications aboard PCU America 140804-N-LQ799-090

The Eurocopter AS565 Panther helicopter was another licensed design produced locally by Helibras. During 1988, the Brazilian Army Aviation Command took delivery of its first Panthers. In January 2010, Helibras was awarded a contract to upgrade 34 AS365K Panthers to the new AS365 K2 standard. Changes on the Panther K2 include new Turbomeca Arriel 2C2CG engines which produce 40% more power, a glass cockpit containing new avionics and radio systems, a four-axis autopilot, a new

weather radar A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern w ...

, NVG-compatibility, and measures to reduce pilot workload, and shall extend the airframe's service life for a further 25 years.Tomkins, Richard
"Modernization of Brazilian Army helicopters to continue."
''United Press International'', 17 September 2014. In March 2014, the first two Panther K2 rotorcraft were delivered to the Brazilian Army. In September 2014, the Panther K2 passed its technical operation evaluation, having reportedly demonstrated a 98% availability rating throughout the trial period, clearing the way for the full modernisation program to proceed. During September 2008, the Brazilian Government announced that Helibras' factory in

, would produce an initial 50 Eurocopter EC725s under a $1 billion order. These 50 helicopters are to be used by the

, the

Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...

(FAB) and Brazilian Army Aviation Command."Continued delivery of the H225M for the Brazilian armed forces despite announcement of 2 year delay."
''defesanet'', 3 July 2015. By December 2010, three helicopters were undergoing flight tests prior to entering military service. In 2012, Helibras began assembly of the rest of the order. In April 2014, Helibras and

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems.Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from Warship, surface vessels, Submarine, submarines, Helicopter, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guil ...

missile, which are also 50%-built in Brazil. On 19 June 2014, the

formally accepted delivery of the first EC725. By July 2015, the Brazilian armed forces had taken delivery of 16 H225Ms; deliveries were reported at the time to continue until 2019. By 1 October 2015, Brazil's H225M fleet had attained 10,000 flight hours. In December 2015, Helibras delivered the first pair of H225Ms to be delivered to a full operational capability (FOC) standard to the Brazilian military.Dominic, Perry
"Brazilian army and air force take first FOC-standard H225Ms."
''Flight International'', 22 December 2015.

Products

Civil

* EC120 Colibri * AS350 B2 Esquilo * AS350 B3 Esquilo * AS355 * EC130 * EC135

Military

* AS532 * AS550 * AS555 * EC635 * EC725

References

External links