Brazil Set to Make Large Helicopters. Government Will Be Client

Helibrás hangar in Minas Gerais, Brazil A Brazilian-French cooperation agreement in the military aerospace sector has just been signed between the ministries of Defense of Brazil and France, which should allow Brazil to start producing large helicopters in the near future.

This accord should simplify the production of French aircraft in the South American country.

The announcement was made during the ceremony for celebration of the Helibrás 30th anniversary, in Itajubá, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, where the company that will make the helicopters is located.

The firm belongs to Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS – the same European consortium that controls Airbus -, to the government of the state of Minas Gerais and to private Brazilian group Bueninvest.

According to figures supplied by the Brazilian Ministry of Defense, the idea is for the large aircraft to be produced by Helibrás itself, which already makes smaller French helicopters. For this, the company is going to build a new assembly line.

To Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who participated in the ceremony, the new enterprise is going to supply not just the Armed Forces, but also other strategic sectors of the Brazilian economy, like the exploration of oil in sea platforms. Brazil already has important participation in the aircraft market through Embraer.

According to the Brazilian minister of Defense, Nelson Jobim, the expectation is for the country's Armed Forces to purchase 50 helicopters for the transport of personnel. He declared that the defense sector has been prioritizing technology transfer, therefore the agreement with France, which was signed by Jobim and by French ambassador Antoine Pouillieute.

After the announcement, French newspaper La Tribune published an article showing that EADS could expand its participation in Helibrás, acquiring part of the share capital of Bueninvest and becoming the controller of the business.

Last year, Helibrás had record revenues of US$ 92 million with the sale of 25 service aircraft.

Anba

Tags:

You May Also Like

São Francisco Diversion: Brazil Vows Water for All But Elite Will Get It

The implementation of one of the most controversial mega-projects of the Lula government is ...

Curitiba: The Real and the Fairy Tale

Curitiba has enjoyed an international reputation as Brazil’s point city for the twenty-first century. ...

Brazilian weekly magazine Isto É with cover story on charges against gubernatorial candidate José Serra

Brazil’s Latest Scandal: Unfortunate for the Country, Disgrace for the Press

At the beginning the chicanery took a long time to be debunked. In a ...

Tom Jobim and Vinicius, the Brazilian Odd Couple Who Started It All – Part Four

Upon the satisfactory completion, in France, of his Orfeu da Conceição, and after its ...

Brazil Sends Troops to Amazon to Protect Rural Workers on Loggers’ Death List

This past weekend, Brazil’s  National Public Security Force agents escorted a group of nine ...

The Boys in the Band

Aline couldn’t believe that Eugênio was saying all those things, asking for time, putting ...

US Wants a Sharper Eye on Brazil’s Border

A report by the US State Department informs that Brazil is cooperating with the ...

While Foreign Investment Falls in Brazil It Grows in LatAm

The worldwide foreign direct investment (FDI) flow reached US$ 897 billion last year, an ...

Export Council Brings Boost to Brazilian Sales Overseas

Exports from the state of Mato Grosso reached US$ 3.813 billion, between January and ...

Of Gods and Pods

To complete the week, English strangely paid homage to a Roman god, Saturn, in ...