Tata Boeing Aerospace Limited has announced the delivery of the first AH-64 Apache combat helicopter fuselage ahead of schedule from its state-of-the-art facility in Hyderabad. The fuselage will now be transported to Boeing's AH-64 Apache manufacturing facility in Mesa, AZ, for integration into the final assembly line. This delivery comes within a year of the aerospace joint venture facility becoming operational.
The facility, which is spread over 14,000-square meters and will be employing 350 highly skilled workers at full production, was inaugurated by Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Defence, Government of India, in March this year. The facility will be the sole global producer of fuselages for AH-64 Apache helicopter delivered by Boeing to its global customers including the U.S. Army. The facility will also produce secondary structures and vertical spar boxes for the multi-role combat helicopter.
"This is a major step forward in Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems' continued commitment to make advanced, high quality aerostructures in India," said Pratyush Kumar, president, Boeing India. "Our investments in technology, capability and skilling are clearly paying off as evident from the quality and speed at which this delivery milestone has been achieved. As we accelerate our efforts, we see this as a major step towards future opportunities to pursue the co-development of integrated systems in aerospace and defence."
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