• Defence Helicopter

  Hungary searches for Hip replacement

  2nd February 2015

  The Eastern European military market continues to unearth significant opportunities, with Hungary now firming up plans for a 30 transport helicopter order. Tactical helicopters will …

• Defence Helicopter

  Maiden flight for Surion variant

  23rd January 2015

  A variant of the Surion helicopter destined for service in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC) completed its first flight on 19 January 2015 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Taiwan introduces first UH-60Ms

  17th December 2014

  Taiwan is standing up its first four Sikorsky UH-60M helicopters at Guiren Air Base, after they arrived from the US on 3 December. Destined for …

• Land Warfare

  UK re-starts long-range jungle recce course

  12th December 2014

  The British Army has completed a four-week long pilot long range reconnaissance patrol course (LRRPC) in the jungles of Brunei after a hiatus of more …

• Defence Helicopter

  Bell confident on future V-22 laser-guided weapon integration

  11th December 2014

  Recent forward-firing tests on the V-22 Osprey will allow greater integration of laser-guided missiles such as Hellfire, Bell Helicopter officials have told Shephard. The company …

• Digital Battlespace

  Japan to procure E-2D Hawkeye

  2nd December 2014

  Japan is expected to procure the Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft following an announcement by the country’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) …

• Defence Helicopter

  Netherlands examines SOF Air concept

  19th November 2014

  The Netherlands Defence Helicopter Command (DHC) has begun working up plans to establish a Special Operations Forces (SOF) Air capability, officials have revealed to Shephard. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Australia signs HATS contract

  17th November 2014

  Future pilots with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) can look forward to an easier transition to advanced helicopters such as the ARH Tiger and MRH90 …

• Defence Helicopter

  US to sell guided rockets to Iraq

  13th November 2014

  The US State Department has approved the sale of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) guided rocket systems to Iraq, it was announced on 12 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing/Thales win Australian HATS programme

  24th October 2014

  Australia has named a Boeing/Thales partnership as the winning tender for a new joint-service helicopter training system for its defence force worth $700 million. In …

• Defence Helicopter

  India restarts RSH tender

  3rd October 2014

  Within a month of cancelling the 197 Reconnaissance and Surveillance Helicopters (RSH) tender, the new Indian government has released a request for information (RfI) for …

• Defence Helicopter

  AgustaWestland sues the US government

  23rd September 2014

  AgustaWestland has filed a bid protest in a US federal court over the US Army’s move to procure additional UH-72 Lakota helicopters to fulfil its …

• Military Logistics

  South Africa set for training and simulation expansion

  22nd September 2014

  Denel, CAE and Elisa will establish a training facility in South Africa for the simulation-based training of pilots and technicians for military and commercial aviation. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Royal Thai Navy buys EC645s

  15th September 2014

  The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) has signed a contract with Airbus Helicopters for the acquisition of five EC645 T2 utility helicopters, it has emerged. RTN representatives …

• Defence Helicopter

  Patria acquires Malmskogen Aerocenter business operations

  2nd September 2014

  Patria Helicopters has acquired the business operations of Malmskogen Aerocenter based in Linköping in Sweden, strengthening Patria Helicopter’s helicopter support capabilities. The company announced the …

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 ...