Airbus Helicopters and Romanian aerospace company IAR have extended their cooperation on the Airbus H215M, Airbus said. The agreement, initially signed for five years, has been extended to 15 years and makes IAR the prime contractor for the multirole helicopter for any future order by the Romanian Ministry of Defense, according to an Airbus press release.

“IAR has built over 360 helicopters under Airbus Helicopters’ license over the past decades, which makes us confident in the future success of the H215M,” said Neculai Banea, IAR's general director.

The agreement also covers production, assembly, customization, support and maintenance of all the helicopters for the Romanian Armed Forces. The Romanian Armed Forces are aiming to renew its fleets of medium and heavy multirole helicopters.

Airbus Helicopters Industries is the manufacturer's 10,000-square-meter factory based in Romania wher production of the 215 in that nation will reside.