RIO DE JANEIRO, March 19, 2010 (AFP) - Helibras, the Brazilian unit of EADS's Eurocopter, broke ground Friday on a new 400-million-dollar facility in Brazil that will play a larger role in manufacturing and design.
    Eurocopter president and chief executive Lutz Bertling said the expansion "increases the engineering capacity of Helibras so that it can completely make helicopters in Brazil."
    The new facility would contribute to a government strategy to become more self-reliant in the defense sector, Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said.
    "This is a starting point so that 10 years from now, the country will have the largest production of helicopters that is totally Brazilian," he said.
    The number of jobs at the facility will double to 700 as Helibras gears up to produce the EC-725, the most recent version of the Cougar helicopter -- a contract worth some three billion dollars.
    The first of these will be built by Eurocopter in France and delivered to Brazil later this year, the company said.