Airbus Helicopters SAS is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence Airport in Marignane, France, near Marseille. The main facilities of Airbus Helicopters are at its headquarters in Marignane, France, and in Donauwörth, Germany, with additional production plants in Canada, Brazil (Helibras), Australia, Spain, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States. The company, originally named Eurocopter, was rebranded Airbus Helicopters on 2 January 2014.
Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, USA as well as commercial helicopters in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada.
CHC Helicopter is a Texas-based helicopter services company.
Boeing Rotorcraft Systems is the former name of an American aircraft manufacturer, now known as Vertical Lift division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.
A Fenestron is an enclosed helicopter tail rotor that operates like a ducted fan. The term Fenestron is a trademark of multinational helicopter manufacturing consortium Airbus Helicopters. The word itself comes from the Occitan term for a small window, and is ultimately derived from the Latin word fenestra for window.
The AgustaWestland AW149 is a medium-lift multi-role military helicopter developed by AgustaWestland, now Leonardo, launched in 2006. On 20 June 2011 AgustaWestland announced the AW189, a civilian development of the AW149, for service in 2013.
The AgustaWestland AW139, now known as the Leonardo AW139, is a 15-seat medium-sized twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, now part of Leonardo. It is marketed at several different roles, including VIP/corporate transport, military use, offshore transport, firefighting, law enforcement, search and rescue, emergency medical service, disaster relief, and maritime patrol.
MD Helicopters, LLC. is an American aerospace manufacturer. It produces light utility helicopters for commercial and military use. The company was a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft until 1984, when McDonnell Douglas acquired it and renamed it McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems. It later became MD Helicopters in 1999 after McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing.
The Airbus Helicopters H175 is a 7-ton class super-medium utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters. In China, the H175 is produced by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) as the Avicopter AC352. Originally launched as the Eurocopter EC175 and the Harbin Z-15, it has been referred to as being a 'super-medium' helicopter.
Helicopter manufacturers belong to the broader category of aerospace manufacturers. It is useful to think of helicopter manufacturers as falling into two categories, those that can design, certify and manufacture new helicopter designs from scratch and those that can only manufacture extant designs under license. Boeing Vertol is an example of the first type and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, who license-produced Boeing Vertol designs for much of its recent history, is an example of the second type.
Future Vertical Lift (FVL) is a plan to develop a family of military helicopters for the United States Armed Forces. Five different sizes of aircraft are to be developed, sharing common hardware such as sensors, avionics, engines, and countermeasures. The U.S. Army has been considering the program since 2004. FVL is meant to develop replacements for the Army's UH-60 Black Hawk, AH-64 Apache, CH-47 Chinook, and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters. The precursor for FVL is the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) helicopter program.
The Bell 525 Relentless is an American super-medium-lift helicopter, under development by Bell Textron. The Bell 525 was unveiled at the 2012 Heli-Expo in Dallas, Texas in February 2012. The helicopter first flew on 1 July 2015. It is designed to transport up to 19 passengers. The aircraft is the first fly-by-wire civilian aircraft and suffered a crash of its prototype, and is still slowly working towards certification. As of 2024 Bell is still working towards completing flight certification but already has its first order.
The Bell V-280 Valor is a tiltrotor aircraft being developed by Bell Helicopter for the United States Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program. The aircraft was officially unveiled at the 2013 Army Aviation Association of America's (AAAA) Annual Professional Forum and Exposition in Fort Worth, Texas. The V-280 made its first flight on 18 December 2017 in Amarillo, Texas.
The Bell 505 Jet Ranger X (JRX) is an American/Canadian light helicopter developed and manufactured by Bell Helicopter. The Bell 505 was unveiled at the 2013 Paris Airshow in June 2013 as the Bell SLS. The Bell 505 designation was officially announced in February 2014. Its first flight occurred on November 11, 2014. The helicopter was certified by Transport Canada in December 2016. By 2023 about 500 have been sold, popular uses so far include for personal, sightseeing, law enforcement, and training.
The Airbus Helicopters H160 is a medium utility helicopter developed by Airbus Helicopters. Formally launched at Heli-Expo in Orlando, Florida on 3 March 2015, it is intended to replace the AS365 and EC155 models in the firm's lineup. In June 2015, the first test flight took place. It received its EASA type certification in July 2020, and first deliveries were in December 2021.
The Leonardo Next-Generation Civil Tiltrotor is a tiltrotor aircraft demonstrator designed and developed by the Italian aerospace company Leonardo S.p.A. Studies for a two times larger tiltrotor than the AgustaWestland AW609 started in 2000. Since 2014, its development is sponsored by the European Union's Clean Sky 2 program. By May 2021, major components were under production By 2023, the maiden flight had been pushed back to 2024, from a 2020 initial plan.
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 Sikorsky Raider X is a compound helicopter concept with two coaxial rotors and a single pusher propeller, designed by the Sikorsky Aircraft division of Lockheed Martin for the United States Army Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program. The Raider X concept was announced in October 2019. In March 2020, the Army selected the Raider X and the Bell 360 Invictus from a field of five design concept candidates. The Raider X and 360 Invictus concepts were to be built as flying prototypes for a competition scheduled for 2023. The FARA program was cancelled in 2024.
The New Medium Helicopter (NMH) is a British military programme to procure a new medium-lift support helicopter to replace several existing helicopters operated by the Royal Air Force and British Army. It is expected the new aircraft will enter service during the late-2020s. After early work on specifications and a down select of contenders, bidding was opened in 2024. The requirement is for a production line and 44 medium helicopters planned to accomplish five specific roles. The helicopter is expected to replace Puma, Huey, and Dauphin helicopters in British service.
