Frost & Sullivan: More Affordable and Versatile Helicopters will Offset Waning End-User Demand

Frost & Sullivan: More Affordable and Versatile Helicopters will Offset Waning End-User Demand PR Newswire LONDON, Nov. 21, 2012 - OEMs to focus on high performance, cost-effective platforms and outsourcing models LONDON, Nov. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Military platforms continue to dominate the global helicopter market. However, this dominance is expected to reduce as platforms become more capable and Ministries of Defence (MoDs) look for commonality with existing fleets to save on maintenance costs and improve platform availability. To a lesser extent, similar trends will be witnessed across the civil helicopter market, where end users exhibit a preference for life extension programmes. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.defence.frost.com), Global Military and Civil Helicopter Market Assessment, finds that revenue opportunities that stood at $17.95 billion in 2011 will increase to $23.33 billion by 2018. "Financial uncertainty and reduced defence spending will encourage end-users to remanufacture and upgrade existing platforms, rather than acquire new helicopters," noted Frost & Sullivan Aerospace & Defence Research Analyst Alix Leboulanger. "This trend will be particularly evident across Europe and North America, traditionally the largest helicopter markets." New platforms procurement programmes will be driven primarily by the demand for multi-capable helicopters, with reduced logistic footprints and more environment-friendly designs.