Munich - Eurocopter has won a major order from Brazil for 50 aircraft, the EADS helicopter division said in Germany Tuesday.

Lutz Bertling, chief executive of the division, did not disclose the value of the contract to supply the EC 725 transport helicopters, but said they are to be assembled in Brazil beginning in 2010.

The factory at Donauwoerth in the state of Bavaria is owned by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).

The list price for a civilian version of an EC 725 is 20 million euros (28 million dollars). Military versions are generally more expensive. That would imply a total order value of about 1 billion euros.

Bertling said the order would appear in next year's accounts.

Eurocopter has a Brazilian subsidiary, Helibras. The two companies anticipate more business in Brazil, with big demand coming from oil companies for helicopters that can service offshore oil and gas platforms.

Bertling said the company expected to have shipped 550 helicopters by the time this year was out and to have taken orders for 680 to 700 helicopters in the course of the year, "in the upper range of our previous forecasts."

But a prediction for 2009 was difficult because of world economic turmoil, and sales were unlikely to match those this year, he said in an interview. (dpa)