The Tata Boeing Aerospace joint venture has inaugurated a 14,000m<sup>2</sup> facility in Hyderabad that will be the sole-source producer of fuselages for AH-64 Apache helicopters.
Tata Boeing Aerospace (TBAL), a joint venture between Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL), inaugurated its state-of-the-art facility in Hyderabad on 1st March.
Spread over 14,000m2 and employing 350 highly skilled workers, the facility will be the sole-source producer of fuselages for AH-64 Apache helicopters delivered by Boeing to customers worldwide, including the U.S. Army.
The facility will also produce secondary structures and vertical spar boxes for the Apache. The delivery of the first fuselage is expected in 2018.
TBAL, Boeing’s first equity joint venture in India, is the result of a 2015 partnership agreement with TASL. Construction of the manufacturing facility began in 2016 and was completed on schedule. The two partners have worked closely to develop a pool of highly skilled aerospace talent through skill development initiatives.
TASL, the strategic aerospace and defence arm of the Tata group, is a premier manufacturing partner for global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as well as the Government of India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation.
The Indian Ministry of Defence finalised an order with Boeing for 22 AH-64E Apache helicopters in September 2015, deliveries of which are scheduled to begin in 2019.