BEIJING/SYDNEY (Reuters) – China has certified for use a helicopter jointly developed by a state-run company and Airbus SE, state-controlled media reported on Tuesday.
The AC352, developed by Aviation Industry Corporation of China and Airbus, is the locally produced variant of the Airbus H175, which has been in service since 2015 outside China and is designed to perform search and rescue, emergency medical services and law enforcement missions.
A certification ceremony was held in Harbin on Tuesday, CCTV reported.
The companies in 2014 signed a joint production agreement for 1,000 AC352s.
The helicopter is powered by the turboshaft WZ16 engine, developed by state-run engine-maker Aero Engine Corporation of China and Safran Helicopter Engines. It was the first helicopter engine certified by both Chinese and European authorities.
China is also in the process of certifying for use its C919 aircraft, the first homegrown narrowbody jet designed to challenge Airbus and Boeing.
(Reporting by Stella Qiu in Beijing and Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
