Bahrain completes attack helicopter fleet renewal
Bell's AH-1Z rotorcraft at the Amarillo Assembly Center, awaiting delivery to Bahrain.
Bell has completed the contract for 12 AH-1Z rotorcraft for delivery to Bahrain.
Bell Textron has announced it completed delivery of the final AH-1Z aircraft to Naval Air Systems Command in December 2022, with delivery to Bahrain scheduled in 2023.
This milestone concluded of a programme of record for the delivery of a total of 12 aircraft to the Gulf state.
The first aircraft delivered made their in-country debut during the Bahrain Air Show. So far, six have arrived in-country.
The completion of the Bahraini contract follows Bell’s completion of a contract for the USMC, demonstrating existing confidence in the system.
The AH-1Z programme is a major development of the AH-1W. The first -1Z achieved IOC in February 2011, and by 2020, all AH-1W Super Cobras in the USMC inventory had been upgraded to this standard.
According to Shephard Defence Insight, Bahrain signed the contract to procure 12 AH-1Zs in November 2018 with an estimated value of $240 million.
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