BBC Russian

2018

Skyways project

8 February: Skyways, Airbus’ unmanned aerial vehicle designed for autonomous parcel deliveries, made its first flight demonstration, validating its automatic loading and unloading capabilities.

An infographic highlighting Babcock’s role as the global launch customer for Airbus’ H160 helicopter.

H160 Infographic

1 March: Babcock became the global launch customer for the H160 after signing a five year frame agreement for the purchase of a fleet of H160s. This fleet of H160s is destined for EMS and other critical services missions starting in Europe and to be deployed progressively across Babcock’s bases worldwide.

A photo of Bruno Even, who was appointed as Airbus Helicopters’ CEO in 2018.

Bruno Even Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

1 April: Airbus appointed Bruno Even, 49, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Airbus Helicopters. He will report to Airbus CEO Tom Enders and join the company’s Executive Committee.

A close-up view of an Airbus Helicopters H160, incorporating the largest-ever Fenestron® shrouded tail rotor, which is double-canted at 12-deg. angles to further enhance anti-torque control efficiency.

Fenestron H160

12 April: Airbus celebrated the 50^th anniversary of one of Airbus Helicopters’ most recognizable innovations: the Fenestron.

Two H175 helicopters configured for public services missions with the Hong Kong-based Government Flying Service (FGS) fly in formation.

First H175 in public services configuration

18 June: Hong Kong based Government Flying Service (GFS) received three H175s in public services configuration, becoming the world’s first operator of this new variant which enlarges the H175 mission capacity to search and rescue (SAR), emergency medical services, law enforcement, firefighting as well as land and maritime border control operations.

The Light Civil Helicopter’s (LCH) 2018 maiden flight is marked by personnel from Airbus and KAI (Korean Aerospace Industries), along with the flight crew.

The maiden flight of the LCH (Light Civil Helicopter)

24 July: The maiden flight of the LCH (Light Civil Helicopter) first prototype in Marignane marked a major milestone, celebrating three years of close cooperation between Airbus and KAI (Korean Aerospace Industries).

Airbus’ multi-role attack helicopter, the Tiger HAD, takes part in a flying display at the 2018 ILA Berlin Air Show.

25 July: The last German Tiger of the series production was delivered with UHT 1070. This ends the Donauwörth series production of Tiger support helicopters that began in 1999.

Shown during a flight demonstration, Airbus Helicopters’ first series production H160 was delivered to launch customer Babcock.

The first serial H160

14 December: The first serial H160 performed a flight demonstration on the 17 December in front of the H160 team in an end-of-the-year celebration of the programme’s achievements in 2018. The helicopter, which will be delivered to launch customer Babcock in 2020, had already performed its first flight on the 14December.

The Airbus Helicopters VSR 700 demonstrator

20 December: The Airbus Helicopters VSR700 demonstrator took off for a fully unmanned autonomous flight at the military airbase in Istres in the south of France. The purpose of the flight was to establish compliance with the demanding regulatory and safety systems necessary for future unmanned flight in France. During the exercise the demonstrator performed a 30 minute flight successfully executing a variety of flight patterns before landing in an autonomous mode. The unmanned air vehicle was piloted and monitored from the ground station located at the base.