• Defence Helicopter

  RAN Bell 429s enter service

  2nd May 2012

  Raytheon Australia has announced that the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) Retention and Motivation Initiative 2 (RMI 2) programme has achieved In-Service status, and the company’s …

• Defence Helicopter

  Raytheon submits HATS tender

  1st May 2012

  Raytheon Australia has announced that it has submitted its tender for the Australian Defence Force's (ADF's) Air 9000 Phase 7 Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Army puts out call for AAS flight demonstrations

  26th April 2012

  The US Army has started the ball rolling on a “voluntary flight demonstration” of candidate aircraft for its Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement, with the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US Navy gives go-ahead for Fire-X

  25th April 2012

  The US Navy has given Northrop Grumman, Bell Helicopter and Rolls Royce the green light to deliver eight Fire-X VTOL UAVs in a programme dubbed …

• Defence Helicopter

  Bell Helicopter opens new facility in India

  20th April 2012

  Bell Helicopter has announced the opening of a new office in New Delhi for all of its operations in India. The company released the news …

• Defence Helicopter

  QuadA2012: Bell eyes future V-22 projects

  4th April 2012

  Bell Helicopter is looking at various strategies to ensure current competencies are not lost through a gap in production between its current US military rotorcraft …

• Defence Helicopter

  QuadA2012: AVX team moves towards flight tests

  3rd April 2012

  AVX Aircraft Company is hoping to start flight testing its OH-58D coaxial conversion in 2014 as it continues to pursue the US Army’s Armed Aerial …

• Defence Helicopter

  QuadA2012: New facility to put manned-unmanned teaming to the test

  3rd April 2012

  Bell Helicopter and fellow Textron subsidiary AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems plan to establish a Manned Unmanned operations (MUMO) capability development laboratory as an R&D tool …

• Defence Helicopter

  FIDAE 2012: FAdeA to push ahead with Chinese helicopter production

  27th March 2012

  Officials from Fabrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA) say they hope to fly their first locally assembled Z-11 light helicopter at the end of this year. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Australian Navy retires the A109

  14th March 2012

  The Australian Navy has retired its fleet of AgustaWestland A109 helicopters as the type makes way for the introduction of the Bell 429. The aircraft, …

• Defence Helicopter

  DoD refocuses presidential helicopter replacement

  12th March 2012

  Further delays to the US VXX Presidential helicopter acquisition programme have placed the current fleet under stress and in need of significant upgrades, according to …

• Defence Helicopter

  'Pashtun Jaguar' tests UK helicopter crews for Afghanistan

  12th March 2012

  Rotary-wing assets from the UK's Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) have taken part in a large exercise to prepare troops heading for Afghanistan. JHC's Exercise Pashtun …

• Defence Helicopter

  FlightSafety expands training services

  9th March 2012

  FlightSafety International has reported a sharp increase in demand for its training services in the Middle East, in particular from operators of Sikorsky helicopters. In …

• Defence Helicopter

  FB Heliservices wins UK MOD contract

  6th March 2012

  Cobham has announced that FB Heliservices has announced it has been awarded a four year contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to continue …

• Military Logistics

  AUSA 2012: ITT Exelis unveils tactical power alternative

  23rd February 2012

  Reflective of myriad joint service efforts to optimise energy capabilities of tactical wheeled vehicle platforms, ITT Exelis used AUSA Winter 2012 for the inaugural exhibit …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 412EPI-Indonesia Forecast

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

• 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 - 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 - scout/light attack

  Bell 407GX

  The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency noted that the proposed sale of five Bell 407GX helicopters will help compensate for the combat loss of seven IA407 helicopters ...

• 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

  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 ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  Project Land 2097 Phase 4 [Australia]

  Programme Background According to the RfI, under Project Land 2097 Phase 4, the selected helicopter must comprise a commercial or military off-the-shelf solution that is ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• 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 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 - 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

  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, unveiled in 1995, is an outgrowth of the 206L-4 LongRanger design, outfitted with a four-bladed main rotor with a composite hub. There are ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  525 Relentless

  Bell Helicopter announced in February 2012 that it was developing the Model 525 Relentless. The Relentless features an ARC Horizon flight deck, including the Garmin ...

• 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. ...

• 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 helicopters - light/training

  Bell 206L-4 LongRanger

  The Bell 206L-4 LongRanger is primarily a civil helicopter but is also used by the Argentine Army. 

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  OH-58 Kiowa

  The single-engine OH-58 Kiowa, derived from the Bell 206, entered US Army service in 1969 as a light observation helicopter. More than 2,200 were built for ...

• 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 - multirole

  Bell 360 Invictus

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