Sikorsky outsources copter cabins to India

Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft today announced that India's Tata Group will build cabins for Sikorsky's civilian workhorse S-92 helicopter in the East Asian nation.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The first cabin is scheduled for delivery in late 2010 from a facility that Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. will construct Andhra Pradesh.

Sikorsky President Jeffrey P. Pino said the subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. is tapping into India's work force in India's growing aerospace market.

Although Sikorsky is the first UTC unit to set up manufacturing in India, UTC employs about 4,000 workers there.  

Ratan N. Tata, chairman of parent company Tata Sons, said the manufacture of the S-92 cabin in India is a "significant first step in the growth of India as a global hub for aerospace manufacturing."

Nearly 100 S-92 helicopters have been built for search and rescue, and transporting heads of state and oil workers to offshore platforms.