cing the H160


Introducing the Airbus H160


After seven years of design and engineering, the Airbus H160 helicopter is ready for prime time. Gilles Armstrong, head of the H160 program at Airbus Helicopters said, “Industrial ramp-up is a big deal; the ability to assemble quickly, a feature in the car industry, requires a lot of upstream design and decision-making.” The H160 has been produced in an innovative new manner using major component assembly (MCA) across diverse European locations with digital production automation. Some of the automation includes:


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Digital and paperless shop floor Flow line Robotics


3D digital technical publications


Components are made in France, Spain, and Germany, which the company said leads to faster integration for custom orders. The entire H160 can be produced within 40 days with the new model. A company video titled “Building Blocks” suggests that Airbus created a new industrial revolution in helicopter manufacturing. The goal is to focus on the building blocks of better agility, quality, standardization, and competitiveness in the production of the helicopters. “Different parts of the helicopter are produced and assembled from different locations – in parallel,” said program ambassadors in the video, tagging this new model as the “HGeneration” of products.


With all new aviation developments and technologies comes rigorous certification processes. The H160 is no different, and they’ve already taken the product through certification with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), National Civil Aviation Agency in Brazil (ANAC), and Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB). They are working on final testing and validation with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).


62 Mar/Apr 2022


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