Aero India 2011: Eurocopter vying for deals worth €10-15 billion

Eurocopter, a division of aerospace and defence company EADS, is looking at projects worth €10-15 billion (around Rs60,000-90,000 crore) over the next five years, with India being the largest market for military helicopters in Asia.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to replace its entire fleet of over 600 Cheetah-Chetak helicopters, which Eurocopter had jointly produced with HAL.

The helicopter major is bidding for the order of 197 reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters that Indian government plans to procure. For this, Eurocopter showcased the best in its breed of helicopter — the AS550 Fennec. The military-certified and combat-proven AS550 C3 Fennec has exceptional performance at high altitude and in hot weather conditions.

“The field trials with full mission equipment were completed flawlessly.  It is a fully certified and a reference helicopter across the world that has been sold in many countries, underlining its capabilities. It is a huge order and we are sparing no resources in this campaign (reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters),” said Norbert Ducrot, senior VP, Eurocopter.

Eurocopter is also eyeing other major projects in India, including cooperation with HAL on co-developing and co-producing a 10-12 tonne helicopter specially designed to address the needs of all the armed forces.

Eurocopter will offer the AS365 naval Panther for the tender to the Navy and Coast Guard. Panther is the military version of the civilian Dauphin, which has been very well received in the Indian market.
Ducrot expects huge potential in newer segments such as helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS), disaster management and pilgrimages. Eurocopter, which has turned its attention to these emerging segments, has set up an Indian subsidiary in New Delhi to improve its training and support systems and expand its footprint in India.

It also plans to introduce the EC135 suited for HEMS segment. Eurocopter has a target of selling 100-150 helicopters in Asia this year with 10% of it coming from India.

The helicopter-makers have a long-standing relationship with HAL, in addition to which they are looking at partnering with private sector companies for outsourcing component and parts manufacturing, and including them in their global-supply chain.

Despite its bullishness, the helicopter company still feels there were many hurdles in the Indian market. “Infrastructure in India is still a big challenge. We need better facilities such as helipads and others for the market to unfold its potential,” he said.

Speaking on the challenges Eurocopter has encountered with defence deals in India, Ducrot said the amendments incorporated in the Defence Procurement Policy 2011 are a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to attract investment in this sector.

“One of the key steps is to increase the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in defence sector which is currently limited to 26%. FDI generates value in India and creates local employment. But given the low ceiling, OEMs may hesitate to take major industrial and commercial risks for offset obligations alone” he said.