Mitsubishi offloads S-92 cabin to India’s Tata

By: Mark Huber

July 1, 2009
Rotorcraft

In a three-way deal that first came to light as a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last year, Sikorsky announced last month that it had completed an agreement for India’s Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) to build the cabins of its S-92 Helibus in India.

The cabins will be manufactured at a new TASL facility in Hyderabad in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Deliveries will begin next year.

TASL is part of India’s Tata Group of diversified companies, a wide-ranging global conglomerate with annual sales of $62 billion. The cabin had been manufactured by Japan’s Mitsubishi, one of the original risk-sharing partners in the S-92 program. The deal spotlights Sikorsky’s continuing efforts to wring costs from the S-92 program, Tata’s stepped-up presence as an emerging global aerospace player and the increasing amount of collaboration between Mitsubishi and Tata in recent years. The two companies are partners in a variety of automotive, aerospace, real-estate development and financial ventures. Last year, Tata bought a one-third stake in Italy’s Piaggio and earlier this year it announced an MOU to provide final assembly for AgustaWestland AW119s sold worldwide. Tata companies also make floor beams and other structures for the Boeing 787 as well as components for the F/A-18 and CH-47 and are involved with ongoing research and manufacturing projects for other large aerospace firms, including BAE Systems, EADS, GE, Goodrich and Northrop Grumman.

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