Eurocopter in the running for large Indian order

Bangalore: Eurocopter, a division of aerospace and defence company EADS, is putting its best foot forward to secure India's order for 197 military helicopters, one of the largest such orders in Asia.

The Indian Army and air force are set to replace their entire fleet of over 600 Cheetah-Chetak helicopters, which Eurocopter had jointly produced with HAL.

Eurocopter is bidding for the order of 197 reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters that Indian armed forces plan to procure. It has its AS550 Fennec in the running which, it says, is a military-certified and combat-proven model.

The AS550 C3 Fennec, according to Eurocopter, exceptional performance at high altitude and in hot weather conditions.

''The field trials with full mission equipment were completed flawlessly. It is a fully certified and a reference helicopter across the world that has been sold in many countries, underlining its capabilities. It is a huge order and we are sparing no resources in this campaign,'' said Norbert Ducrot, senior VP, Eurocopter.

Eurocopter is also eyeing other major projects in India, including cooperation with HAL on co-developing and co-producing a 10-12 tonne helicopter specially designed to address the needs of all the armed forces.