Airbus Begins First Pre-production of H160 Helicopter

The first pre-production of Airbus H160 helicopter has been fitted with its rear fuselage, comprising the tail boom and tail assembly, the company announced Friday.

The Airbus Helicopters H160 (formerly known under the designation of "X4") is an in-development, medium-lift, multi-role helicopter.

Under the company's new site specialisation strategy, the rear fuselage was pre-assembled in Albacete, Spain. The main fuselage of the first pre-production aircraft arrived from the company’s facilities in Donauwörth, Germany earlier in the year. Final assembly takes place in Marginane.

A total of ten pre-production aircraft are planned as the company fine-tunes its industrial process. As the process gains in maturity, Airbus aims to progressively reduce assembly lead-times to a target assembly time of 40 days at full production rate.