The Dauphin was originally designed as the successor to the Alouette III and was to be called the "Business Alouette". The fuel tank was meant to go in the rear of a relatively small cabin before the idea arose to place the fuel tanks in the lower structure, thus increasing the cabin size. This is why there is such a height difference between the front and aft sections of the Dauphin cabin.
The first Dauphin was a single-engine aircraft and performed its maiden flight on 2 June 1972, with a crew of R. Coffignot, pilot, R. Stevens, test flight engineer (TFE) and A. Ricaud, test flight technician (TFT). After 180 flights, from May 1973 onwards, the Turbomeca Astazou XVI engine on the 360 C was replaced by an Astazou XVIIIA. In response to the development of market requirements in this category, four twin-engine versions - the SA365 C/C1/C2/C3 – then succeeded each other, all of which had serial numbers in the 5,000s. On 24 January 1975, the SA365 C flew for the first time with two Arriel engines, developing 650 shp, and the same crew as 1972. The SA365 C had versions with wheels and skids.

On the C versions, the flight controls crossed the cabin in a ‘channel’, which was a criticized feature. The subsequent AS365 N was therefore given a completely freed-up cabin with the flight controls routed along the sides of the aircraft. The AS365 N (s/n 5100), equipped with two Arriel 1C engines, performed its maiden flight on 31 March 1979 with a crew of M. Jot, R. Stevens, and M. Sudre (TFT). Aircraft 6010 was used as a support to develop an automatic pilot with multiple possibilities, including automatic approach modes. In 1982, this was the first helicopter in the world to be certified to perform IFR flights with a single pilot.

In February 1980, the Dauphin broke three records. On 6 February 1980, the speed record for Paris – London – Paris was beaten at an average of 294.26 km/h. On 8 February 1980, the speed record for Paris – London was broken at an average of 321.91 km/h, and the return flight was performed on the same day at an average of 281.05 km/h. The crew consisted of the test pilots Bernard Pasquet and Max Jot, and Michel Sudre (TFT). A rare achievement, these 8 February records were broken in the first series production aircraft (s/n 6001) with seven passengers, and one month after the ones set by the competition. The flights took place between the heliports of Issy les Moulineaux and Battersea.
The Dauphin helicopter notched up one of its major successes in 1984 when 96 aircraft were ordered by the United States Coast Guard for rescue missions up to 150 miles from the shore. The aircraft was given the denomination of the Dolphin HH-65A by the customer, and SA366 G by the manufacturer, which had just changed its name to Aerospatiale and had selected American Lycoming engines. On 23 July 1980, the maiden flight had been performed by a crew of G. Dabadie (pilot), D. Trivier (TFE) and M. Benvenuti (TFT). The Fenestron® and fin were then modified to resolve vibration problems and improve maneuverability. The "Dolphin" then took the designation SA366 G-1.

The military version, the SA365 M, first appeared in 1979 and, from 1990 onwards, took the name Panther AS565. This aircraft was proposed for tactical land-based missions and naval operations. In 1982, the SA365 FS was offered with AS 15TT anti-ship missiles and torpedoes.
In 1985, Ireland bought a variant of the AS365 F for SAR missions. This was the first helicopter in the world with "revolutionary" avionics: five screens instead of the traditional instruments.
A license was also sold to China where the Dauphin took the name Z-9. In the 1990s, the Z-9C became the naval version used for SAR, anti-submarine and ship liaison missions by the Chinese.

On 19 November 1991, Dauphin no. 6015, the Dauphin Grande Vitesse (high-speed Dauphin) broke the speed record over three kilometers for all weight categories combined. At the Istres base in France, the crew of Guy Dabadie (test pilot), Bernard Fouques (TFE), and Michel Sudre performed the required fly-bys, at an altitude lower than 150 m, for approval of the record with a clocked speed of more than 200 knots (372 km/h).

In line with the general rule, the development of versions corresponded to a requirement for increased performance. From the N version, the maximum weight of 4,000 kg rose to 4,100 kg for the N1, then to 4,250 kg for the N2. However, the N3 version (maiden flight: 28/10/1996, maximum weight: 4,300 kg) witnessed the appearance of a new generation of engine. The Arriel 1C2 engines of the N2 were replaced by Arriel 2Cs with a Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC). The result was a version with very high performance and Category A take-off weights more than several hundred kilos higher than the N2 version.

The EC155 - the newcomer to the family - was developed in parallel with the Dauphin N3. The N3 was designed for use in extreme, hot and high conditions (and for demanding military missions by the Panther) while the EC155, which was originally called the AS365 N4, was intended - with its very spacious cabin and five rotor blades - as a transport aircraft providing comfort and speed for passengers.
The EC155 demonstrator was built using elements from Dauphin 6015, which had broken the world speed record. It performed its maiden flight on 17 June 1997. Under its current form, the helicopter took to the skies for the first time on 11 March 1998 (crew: Didier Guerin, pilot, Patrick Brémond, TFE, and R. Martin, TFT). The test and certification flights followed each other very quickly and the DGAC certification for the EC 155 B version was obtained on 9 December 1998, barely nine months later. The first three helicopters for the launch customer were delivered on 11 March 1999, one year to the day after the maiden flight.

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