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, a city and municipality in southwestern
Minas Gerais state,
Brazil. Formerly, Helibras was jointly owned by MGI
Participações (MGI Investments – owned by the government of the federal state of
Minas Gerais), Bueninvest and
Eurocopter. As of 2006, Helibras became a wholly owned subsidiary of Eurocopter (now
Airbus Helicopters) which in turn is owned by
Airbus Group. It is the only manufacturer of helicopters in
Latin America. 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. Since 1984, the
Brazilian Navy has used AS350s to support the
Brazilian Antarctic Program. In January 2011, Helibras signed a contract with the Brazilian Army to substantially upgrade and refurbish their existing fleet of 36 AS350 Ecureuils.
USS America, 2014 The
Eurocopter AS565 Panther helicopter was another licensed design produced locally by Helibras. During 1988, the
Brazilian Army Aviation 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, NVG-compatibility, and measures to reduce pilot workload, and shall extend the airframe's service life for a further 25 years. 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. These 50 helicopters are to be used by the
Brazilian Navy, the
Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and Brazilian Army. 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 were in the process of integrating the anti-ship
Exocet missile, which are also 50%-built in Brazil. On 19 June 2014, the
Brazilian Navy 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. In December 2015, Helibras delivered the first pair of H225Ms to be delivered to a full operational capability (FOC) standard to the Brazilian military. ==Products==