Airbus Helicopters H175
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| Role | Medium utility helicopter |
| Manufacturer |
Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter Group) Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG) |
| First flight | H175: 17 December 2009 AC352: 20 December 2016 |
| Introduction | H175 : December 2014 |
| Status | In production |
 Summary of winter certification
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Documentary on H175 VIP variant
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An inflight H175 performing a public demonstration
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The Airbus Helicopters H175 / Avicopter AC352 , is a 7-ton class medium utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter Group) and the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). Original launched as the Eurocopter EC175 and the Avicopter Z-15. It has been referred to as being a 'super-medium' helicopter, and has been often contrasted with the competing AgustaWestland AW189.
Formally launched at Heli-Expo in Houston on 24 February 2008, it was predicted by Airbus Helicopters that approximately 800 to 1,000 EC175s would be sold over an initial 20-year period. It entered service in December 2014; in 2015, the EC175 was formally renamed to the H175, in line with Eurocopter's corporate rebranding as Airbus Helicopters.
In February 2005, Eurocopter president Fabrice Brégier revealed that in-depth discussions were being held between Eurocopter and China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II) on the topic of the co-development of a new medium-heavy twin-engine helicopter, tentatively designated as the EC175. In October 2005, AgustaWestland acknowledged that it had also been approached by AVIC II, and that the firm was interested in participating if Eurocopter failed to secure the co-development contract.
On 5 December 2005, the signing of a development contract for the EC175 was announced by Eurocopter and AVIC-II's subsidiary Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG). Early development work on the project proceeded as per schedule: On 5 December 2006, the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) was completed; the Critical Design Review (CDR) was completed on 5 December 2007, at which point the design of the aircraft and all its sub-systems was frozen. In 2008, it was expected that development of the EC175 would cost €600 million. The EC175 was developed through close cooperation with existing operators via a customer advisory team (CAT) approach.
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