 Development began in September 1996 with the helicopter officially announced by Eurocopter at the Paris Air Show in June 1997.The first EC155 helicopter, a modified Dauphin airframe, made its maiden flight at Marignane on 17 June 1997 and the first pre-production EC155 B flew on 11 March 1998.The aircraft received safety certification by the French & German Civil Aviation Authorities on 11 December 1998 and went into production soon after, with a price tag of US$7–8 million depending on installed equipment.