In November 1989, Eurocopter signed an agreement that financially secured the majority of the helicopter's development through to serial production, including arrangements for two assembly lines to be built at Aerospatiale's Marignane plant and MBB's Donauwörth facility. This same arrangement also included the manufacture of five Tiger prototypes. Three were to operate as unarmed testbeds and the other two as armed combat prototypes with one for the French escort helicopter variant and the other for the German anti-tank variant. The first prototype took the Tiger's maiden flight on 27 April 1991 that lasted for 30 minutes.