Farnborough International Airshow 2012 - Russian Helicopters Holding Company, one of the global leading developers and manufacturers of helicopters, including a number of the most popular and wide-spread models, and AgustaWestland (a Finmeccanica company) announced the signing of a framework agreement on joint development, manufacturing and marketing of advanced single-engine helicopter with a weight of 2.5 tons.

The agreement was signed by Bruno Spagnolini, CEO of AgustaWestland, and CEO of Russian Helicopters Holding Company, Dmitry Petrov. The parties will be taking part in the project on a matching contribution basis; it is intended to promote the helicopter at the global market. The vehicle will have a wide range of applications.

Dmitry Petrov, CEO of Russian Helicopters, said: “We are glad to expand our partnership with AugustaWestland and carry out the joint development of this new light helicopter. Co-operation with other global leading enterprises is an important part of Russian Helicopters’ strategy for development of new products in order to meet the constantly evolving demands of our customers all over the world.”

Bruno Spagnolini, AgustaWestland’s CEO, said: “The signing of this agreement further expands our strong and successful co-operation with Russian Helicopters Holding Company. We have already established Helivert enterprise to assemble the AW139 in Russia and our new joint program is the next step in development of co-operation aimed at meeting the future demands of the global market.” AgustaWestland and Russian Helicopters established the joint venture company HeliVert in 2010 to assemble AW139 helicopters at a new plant in Tomilino (Moscow Region). The plant will meet the growing demand for such helicopters at the civil aviation market of Russia and CIS Region. The production of AW139 helicopters in Tomilino will be launched this summer.