The Eurocopter SA365/AS365 Dauphin II (Dolphin) is a medium-weight multipurpose twin-engine helicopter currently produced by Eurocopter GmbH. It was originally developed and manufactured by French firm Aérospatiale, which was merged into the multinational Eurocopter company during the 1990s. Since entering production in 1975, the type has been in continuous production for more than 40 years. The intended successor to the Dauphin is the Eurocopter H160, which is yet to enter operational service as of March 2015.
The Dauphin II shares many similarities with the Aérospatiale AS360, a commercially unsuccessful single-engine helicopter; however the twin-engine Dauphin 2 did meet with customer demands and has been operated by a wide variety of civil and military operators. Since the type's introduction in the 1970s, several major variations and specialised versions of the Dauphin 2 have been developed and entered production, including the military-oriented Eurocopter Panther, the Chinese-manufactured Harbin Z-9 and the modernised Eurocopter EC155.
