Airbus has put a proposal to º£½ÇÊÓƵ Government to build helicopters for the Ministry of Defence - with the work carried out at Broughton.
The MoD plans to retire Airbus Puma HC2 medium helicopter fleet in the middle of this decade and seek a replacement.
Airbus believes a military variant of the Airbus H175 is fully capable of fulfilling the MoD's needs.
Under a proposal a new helicopter plant would be built at the existing Airbus commercial aircraft site in Broughton - creating hundreds of new jobs.
The site has lost around 2,000 roles over the pandemic - with total staffing numbers going from 6,000 to around 4,000.
The final assembly line for the civil Airbus H175 is at Marignane, France.
H175M would be different to the civil helicopter with significant military customisation.
Airbus said: "Airbus Helicopters in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ is aware of the Government's intention to retire the Airbus Puma HC2 medium helicopter fleet, along with certain other types, in the middle of this decade and to seek a replacement known as the New Medium Helicopter.
"While we (Airbus Heli) await the issue by the Ministry of Defence of its formal specification, we firmly believe the Airbus H175M is fully capable of fulfilling the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's NMH needs and of becoming a sustainable º£½ÇÊÓƵ export product with the potential to resurrect the capacity and capability of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's helicopter industry, in part through the creation of a new helicopter plant at the existing Airbus commercial aircraft site in Broughton, North Wales.
"The civil variant of the H175 is by far the most capable super medium aircraft on the market, with 26 already in daily North Sea operation off the coast of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ, and excellent export prospects for the proposed military variant.
"We look forward to taking part in the competition to provide the NMH and if successful we are ready to invest substantially in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ to create an advanced new helicopter manufacturing/assembly facility directly employing many skilled Airbus workers and sustaining hundreds more jobs in the wider º£½ÇÊÓƵ supply chain.
"This activity would support the Government's levelling up agenda and create an attractive exportable product capable of serving military customers worldwide.
"Our plan would seek to establish a H175M Final Assembly Line in an existing facility on the commercial wing manufacturing Plant’s footprint at Broughton. We would also transfer a number of key high value component manufacturing capabilities to the º£½ÇÊÓƵ supply chain. We would emphasise our demonstrable track record of making long-term, high value investments in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ.
"In short, this is a medium to long-term ambition and we are at the very outset but we are excited by the opportunity and believe we could revolutionise the º£½ÇÊÓƵ military helicopter market if selected."
Want more news like this? Sign up to the Business Live Wales newsletter here
