Events 2009
U.S. Embassy Celebrated the Assembly of the 250th Sikorsky Helicopter S-76 in Aero Vodochody
From left: Commercial Counselor Greg O'Connor, Colonel Jeff Holachek, Embassy’s U.S. Army Attaché, Chargé d'Affaires Mary Thompson-Jones and Marek Dospiva from the investment firm Penta, at the Aero Vodochody, Czech largest aircraft company
April 14, 2009
On April 7, Chargé d'Affaires Mary Thompson-Jones, Commercial Counselor Greg O'Connor and Commercial Specialist Hana Obrusnikova visited Aero Vodochody to celebrate the assembly of the 250th Sikorsky Helicopter S-76 airframe.
Aero Vodochody is the largest Czech defense and aircraft company, active from 1919. Aero has been very successful in the area of industrial cooperation supplying airframes for Sikorsky's S-76 helicopter since 2000. Roughly 50 percent of the aircraft is put together at their premises with Aero overseeing 200 Sikorsky suppliers (80 percent of the airframe is U.S. content) as it assembles S-76 airframes pre-stuffed with electronics and avionics, hydraulics and fuel system for eventual shipment to Sikorsky's Connecticut facility for final assembly and flight certification. The S-76 is a multi-purpose medium-size commercial helicopter. Aero is Sikorsky's largest global subcontractor.
During the ceremony, Aero CEO Igor Hulak and Sikorsky Vice President Mick Maurer signed a MOU for expanded industrial cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe. Aero was controlled by Boeing from 1997 to 2004 when the firm was sold back to the Czech state. The firm was successfully taken private by the investment firm Penta in 2006 and is now profitable.
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