List of most-produced rotorcraft

Last updated

This is a list of the most-produced rotorcraft. Production runs typically include variants and licensed production. Aircraft still in production are highlighted in blue.

Contents

NameNumber producedNationNotesProduction period
Mil Mi-8 17,000 +Soviet Union/RussiaMost-produced helicopter. Still in production.1961–present
Bell UH-1 Iroquois 16,000 +United StatesMost-produced Western helicopter; nicknamed "Huey". UH-1Y derivative in production.1959–1976
Bell 206 Jetranger 8,460manufactured at Bell plants in United States and CanadaAlso made under licence by Agusta in Italy and Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in Australia1966–2010
Eurocopter AS350 7,000 + [1] FranceAirbus Helicopters H1301975–present
Robinson R44 6800+United States [2] [3] 1993–present
Bell 47 5,600United StatesProduced under license by Agusta in Italy, Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan, and Westland Aircraft in the United Kingdom.1946-1974
Mil Mi-2 5,497Soviet Union, PolandProduced only in Poland.1965–1998
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk 5,000 [4] +United States S-70 family: UH-60A (1978–1989), UH-60L (1989-2007), UH-60M (2005-), SH-60 Seahawk (1979-), in Japan as Mitsubishi H-60 (1987-).1978–present
Robinson R22 4,800+ [5] United States1979–present
Hughes OH-6 Cayuse 4,700 [6] United StatesIn production as MD-500 series. Also built under license by Kawasaki, Korean Air Aerospace and Breda Nardi (Agusta).1965–present
Mil Mi-4 4,000Soviet UnionIn China as Z-5.1951-1979
Hughes TH-55 Osage 2,800 +United StatesLater as Schweizer S-300.1961-
Mil Mi-24 2,648 +Soviet Union/RussiaMi-35M version still in limited production.1969–present
Mil Mi-1 2,594Soviet UnionIn Poland as SM-1.1950-1965
Boeing AH-64 Apache 2,500 [7] United States1986-present
Sikorsky H-34 2,464United StatesAlso as Westland Wessex.1954-1970
Bell AH-1 Cobra 2,208 [8] United States AH-1Z model still in production.1967–present
Eurocopter EC145 2000+ [9] Japan-EUIn production as Airbus H145 since 2014. [10] Includes UH-72 Lakota 2001-
Aérospatiale Alouette III 2,000 +FranceLicense built in Switzerland, India (as HAL Chetak), and in Romania as IAR 316.1961-2021 [11] [12]
Hiller OH-23 Raven 1,836 +United States1948-1965
Aérospatiale Gazelle 1,775France1967-1996
Sikorsky H-19 1,728 [13] United StatesMade under licence in United Kingdom, France and Japan.1950-1961?
MBB Bo 105 1,640 [14] GermanyGerman (1,404) plus license produced in Canada, Spain, Philippines, and Indonesia.1967-2001
Bell 407 1,600+ [15] United States-CanadaDerivative of the Bell 206L LongRanger1995–
Robinson R66 1,500 [16] United States2007–present
Eurocopter EC135 1,400 + [17] GermanyAirbus Helicopters H1351994–present
Bell 412 1,300+ [18] United StatesHuey version license made in Indonesia, Italy, and Japan [19] 1979-
Aérospatiale Alouette II 1,303Franceincluding: Alouette II, SA-318C (316), Lama (407), and HAL Cheetah (240), and 7 in Brazil [20] 1956-1975
Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King 1,300 +United StatesSikorsky S-61 family, also made by Westland, Canada, Agusta, and Mitsubishi.1959-1970s
Boeing CH-47 Chinook 1,179 + [21] United StatesBuilt under licence by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Elicotteri Meridionali (Agusta).1962–present
Leonardo AW139 1,100+ [22] ItalyFormerly AgustaWestland AW1392001-
Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin 1,100+ [23] France1975–2022 [23]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helicopter manufacturer</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airbus Helicopters H160</span> Type of aircraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonardo Next-Generation Civil Tiltrotor</span> Twin-engine tiltrotor aircraft demonstrator

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The Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program was initiated by the United States Army in 2018 to develop a successor to the Bell OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopter as part of the Future Vertical Lift program. The OH-58 was retired in 2017; three prior programs for a successor were cancelled prior to reaching production: Light Helicopter Experimental, Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, and Armed Aerial Scout. Several billions of dollars were spent without delivering any new helicopters to service, due to this cycle of development and cancellation. During this time the armed scout role was filled primarily by the Vietnam-era OH-58, which was finally retired in the late 2010s, leaving the Army to use attack helicopters to fill in this role.

The New Medium Helicopter (NMH) is a British military programme to procure up to 44 medium-lift support helicopters to replace the Westland Puma HC2 and initially, the Bell 412 Griffin operated by the Royal Air Force; and the Bell 212 and Airbus AS365 Dauphin operated by the British Army. It is expected the new aircraft will enter service during the late-2020s. By the mid 2020s, only the Puma HC2 is intended for replacement, the other types have already been retired or will remain in service.

Many aviation-related events took place in 2022. Throughout the year, the aviation industry was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ↑ "Airbus delivers the 7,000th Ecureuil helicopter". Airbus. 8 July 2022. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  2. ↑ General Aviation Manufacturers Association (2020). "2019 Databook" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  3. ↑ "Quarterly Shipments and Billings – GAMA". gama.aero. Retrieved 2020-11-21..
  4. ↑ Ryan Finnerty (23 January 2023). "Sikorsky delivers 5,000th Black Hawk, with potential for new US orders". Flightglobal.
  5. ↑ "Robinson R22 turns 40". www.aopa.org. 2019-06-03. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  6. ↑ The MD Helicopters MD-500/530. Retrieved on January 16, 2008. Checked March 15, 2024
  7. ↑ "Boeing Delivers 2,500th AH-64 Apache Helicopter". Boeing. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Last U.S. Army Operational UH-1 Huey Gone". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-03-08.
  9. ↑ "Airbus Online Press release". Aviation International News. December 6, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  10. ↑ "Airbus Helicopters EC145". Business Jet Traveler. 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  11. ↑ "Early history 1920 - 1990". Airbus Helicopters. 2015. Archived from the original on 2018-02-19. 1959: SA3160/ SA316/ SA319 B "Alouette III".
  12. ↑ "IAF's oldest helicopter Chetak to mark 60 years in action next month". Hindustan Times. 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  13. ↑ Devine, Vinny (November 2012). "S-55/H-19/HO4S/HRS Helicopter". Sikorsky Product History. Igor Sikorsky Historical Archives. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  14. ↑ Hamel, Peter G. (2017-03-15). In-Flight Simulators and Fly-by-Wire/Light Demonstrators: A Historical Account of International Aeronautical Research. Springer. p. 186. ISBN   978-3-319-53997-3.
  15. ↑ Huber, Mark Huber. "Life Flight Network Adds Four Bell 407GXi Helicopters | AIN". Aviation International News. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  16. ↑ Casey, Sean (2024-03-20). "The Nuts & Bolts Planning of Your Upcoming Robinson R66 Helicopter Overhaul". Rotorcorp. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
  17. ↑ Eurocopter officially hands over its 1,000th EC135 helicopter to the ADAC Archived 2011-12-15 at the Wayback Machine , 2011-07-21
  18. ↑ "Subaru Bell's new pickup: the 412EPX". Vertical Mag. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  19. ↑ "Bell 412EPI". Business Jet Traveler. 2023-01-16. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  20. ↑ "Airliners.net". Airliners.net. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  21. ↑ "CH-47D/F Chinook page". Boeing.
  22. ↑ Leonardo Helicopters, , Leonardo press release, 11 January 2021
  23. 1 2 "Airbus delivers the last ever Dauphin to Spanish Customs". Airbus. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
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