• Defence Helicopter

  Bell extends components manufacture contract with Kaman

  30th March 2015

  Bell Helicopter has extended its contract with Kaman to manufacture components for its UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters, Kaman announced on 26 March. The five-year follow-on …

• Defence Helicopter

  Quad A 2015: V-280 assault variant fitted with future cockpit

  30th March 2015

  Bell Helicopter is displaying an assault variant of its mock-up of the V-280 Valor tiltrotor at the Quad A exhibition in Nashville. The aircraft has …

• Naval Warfare

  Japan inducts largest warship since WWII

  30th March 2015

  Japan formally received JS Izumo, its largest new warship since the end of World War Two, at the IHI Marine United shipyard in Yokohama on …

• Defence Helicopter

  LIMA 2015: Bell aims military and civil helicopters at Malaysia

  16th March 2015

  Bell Helicopter has two static exhibits at LIMA this year – a UH-1Y and a 429 WLG. The former belongs to the United States Marine …

• Defence Helicopter

  LIMA 2015: Malaysia looks at air priorities

  13th March 2015

  As Malaysia is coming to the end of the 10th Malaysian Plan (2011-2015), which outlines government spending, no major procurement is expected to be undertaken …

• Defence Helicopter

  Singapore outlines new helicopter and MRAP plans

  10th March 2015

  The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) plans to replace its Airbus Helicopters AS332/532 aircraft and Textron Marine & Land Systems V-200 4x4 armoured vehicles, it has …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2015: Bell ‘concerned’ over surplus helicopters

  2nd March 2015

  The US Army’s decision to retire nearly 800 helicopters and potentially sell them on to foreign customers remains a concern for Bell Helicopter, the manufacturer’s …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Avalon 2015: Rocket firings planned for Fire Scout

  24th February 2015

  Northrop Grumman plans to do a test firing of an Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) from the new version of its Fire Scout rotary …

• Defence Helicopter

  IDEX 2015: Northstar and CAE to develop 407 trainer

  23rd February 2015

  Abu Dhabi based NorthStar Aviation has signed a collaboration agreement with CAE to jointly develop a training solution for the former’s NSA407 Multi-Role Helicopter (MRH).    …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Aero India: The Eagle has landed

  19th February 2015

  Closer US-India military cooperation in the UAV field kicked up a gear when AeroVironment and Bangalore-based Dynamatic Technologies inaugurated a production facility on 17 February.  The …

• Defence Helicopter

  IDEX 2015: ISIS to impact Middle East rotorcraft plans

  18th February 2015

  The protracted fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will cast a long shadow over military requirements in the region, particularly in …

• Defence Helicopter

  Chinook may be destined for Indonesia

  17th February 2015

  Boeing has held high level cooperation discussions with Indonesian defence officials in a move that may pave the way for procurement of the CH-47 Chinook …

• Defence Helicopter

  Indian helicopter RfI closes, again

  16th February 2015

  After three false starts, India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) will close an RfI for domestically-built single-engine reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters (RSH) on 17 February.  Both …

• Defence Helicopter

  Japan not seeking extra Apaches… for now

  9th February 2015

  Despite an ageing attack helicopter fleet, the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) has said it is not seeking additional Boeing Apache AH-64DJP attack helicopters.  Japan …

• Defence Helicopter

  Vietnam grounds veteran UH-1 fleet

  4th February 2015

  The Vietnamese military grounded its entire Bell UH-1 Iroquois fleet after the crash of an example on 28 January. The craft had taken off from …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 412EPI add-on [Indonesia]

  Programme Background The Indonesian Aerospace PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) was assembling Bell helicopters in its factory in Bandung. The first Bell 412EPI was delivered to the ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Army)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Navy)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  Bell 407GX [Iraq]

  Programme Background Between 2009 and 2015 Iraq was supplied with at 26 Bell 407s as part of the reconstruction of the Iraqi Air Force. The ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Bell 412EPI-Indonesia

  Programme Background PTDI is assembling Bell helicopters in its factory in Bandung.  The first Bell 412EPI was delivered to Indonesian Army on 29 December 2020 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 412EP [Zambia]

  Programme Background  In January 2025, the US State Department approved an FMS of Bell 412EP helicopters along with the necessary training and logistical support services ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  AH-X [Japan]

  There is no mention of the AH-X in the 2019-2023 Medium Term Defence Plan, so it is possible that the requirement has quietly been postponed. ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (Jordan)

  Programme Background Requirement The Jordanian Air Force has a requirement for training helicopters that are to be used in the King Hussein Air College. The country ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement In 2018, the US Army initiated the FARA project to develop a replacement for Army attack and scout helicopters, such as the OH-58D Kiowa and AH-64 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 412 Replacement (1-9) [Norway]

  Programme Background Although Norway has a long-stated ambition of reducing its helicopter fleet to a single type in order to reduce costs and simplify support ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-1Y [Romania]

  Programme Background The Romanian MoD has a long-standing requirement for new rotary platforms, including troop transport, supply and attack configurations. According to the the Romanian Military ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Huey II

  The last announced contract, valuing at $19 million, was awarded to Bell by US Army to supply Lebanon Air Force with there furnished Huey IIs ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Kruk / AH-64E Apache [Poland]

  Programme Background In May 2019, Wojciech Skurkiewicz, the Polish deputy defence, released some details on the helicopter programme. Part of Poland's broader defence modernisation plan, the tender ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) [USA]

  Programme Background US Army's Future Vertical Lift Programme The FLRAA is one of three strands of a broader army programme. The others are the Future ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AW169M (Austria)

  The aircraft was selected ahead of two light twin platforms – the Bell 429 and H145M - as it represented the best option for Vienna ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 412EPI

  Introduced in 2013, the Bell 412EPI is the latest production standard for Bell's venerable 412 family of utility helicopters. The 412EPI has a fully integrated ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505

  The Bell 505 is a light, single-engine helicopter initially designed for the utility, executive/passenger and law enforcement markets produced by Bell Textron. The Montenegrin Air ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 412EPX

  The Bell 412EPX is a utility helicopter manufactured by Subaru. This platform improves upon the UH-1J/412-series helicopters. It has enhanced safety, performance, visibility, maintainability and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  525 Relentless

  Bell Helicopter announced in February 2012 that it was developing the Model 525 Relentless. The aircraft is designed primarily for the oil and gas industry ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 412EP

  The Bell 412EP/CH-146 is a twin-engine, medium support helicopter derived from the Model 212/Twin Huey, produced by Bell in Canada. The 412EP was introduced in 1994. ...

• Helicopter engines

  T53

  The T53 is a turboshaft engine, designed for use on helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. More than 19,000 T53-series engines have been produced to date, powering ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  Bell 407/407M

  The 407 aircraft, unveiled by Bell Helicopters Textron in 1995, is an outgrowth of the 206L-4 LongRanger design, outfitted with a four-bladed main rotor with a ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 212/UH-1N Twin Huey

  The UH-1N Twin Huey is a twin-engine, medium utility helicopter developed in 1968-69 from the single-engine Bell 205/UH-1H by Bell and Pratt & Whitney Canada. ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 206L-4 LongRanger

  The Bell 206L-4 LongRanger belongs to the LongRanger family, which is derived from the Bell 206B model. The aircraft is primarily a civil helicopter with ...

• Helicopter engines

  CT7 Family

  GE Aviation's CT7 turboshaft and turboprop engines power 25 types of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, with more than 130 customers in more than 50 countries. ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  V-247 Vigilant

  The V-247 Vigilant is a tiltrotor UAV from Bell. Officially introduced in 2016, it features an open modular architecture and can host several payloads. These include ...

• Interior equipment

  Dart Aerospace designs and manufactures skidtubes (using round I-beam technology), crosstubes, lightweight steps, bearpaws, emergency stretcher kits, shoulder harnesses, aircraft disabling devices, baskets, mirrors, spacedoors, ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  HSVTOL

  Bell, a subsidiary of Textron, revealed on 2 August 2021 the High-Speed VTOL (HSVTOL) UAS. According to Bell, the developmental UAS combines the hover capability of a ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  407GT

  The Bell 407GT is the armed version of the Bell 407GX and is qualified for a range of weapons, from light to advanced laser-guided munitions. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 360 Invictus

  The Bell 360 Invictus was the company's prototype for the US Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) programme.  The helicopter features retractable weapon bays, two ...