Bell Helicopter awarded a nearly half-billion dollar attack & utility helicopter contract
Bell Helicopter awarded a nearly half-billion dollar attack & utility helicopter contract
Fort Worth, Texas (May 11, 2016) – Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, was awarded a $461.1 million contract in March 2016 from the U.S. Pentagon to supply the U.S. Marine Corps with more than two dozen new utility and attack helicopters. The contract includes 12 UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters and 16 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and the associated auxiliary fuel kits.
“The UH-1Y utility and AH-1Z attack helicopters continue to perform for the United States Marine Corps, delivering on our promise of technologically advanced aircraft the Marines can rely on to accomplish their challenging missions,” said Lisa Atherton, executive vice president of Military Business for Bell Helicopter. “The Venom and Viper are a powerful, comprehensive duo, designed and manufactured to reduce logistical requirements and environmentally hardened to perform for armed forces over land or sea.”
The Bell AH-1Z Viper is among the world’s most lethal anti-armor attack helicopter, capable of carrying the widest array of ordnance of any helicopter in the world. Target identification is crucial in the modern battlefield, and the Bell AH-1Z’s Target Sight System provides the longest range and highest accuracy of any helicopter sight available, as it allows the operators of the AH-1Z to identify and track multiple targets outside the enemy’s ability to visually detect the Viper. Unlike other attack helicopters, the AH-1Z Viper has integrated air-to-air strike capability in addition to superior air-to-ground anti-armor performance. This capability set makes the AH-1Z the ideal platform to meet the requirements of land warfare scenarios in any of the potential hot spots around the world.
The Bell UH-1Y Venom is a combat-proven utility helicopter slated to support the United States Marine Corps’ global missions for the next four decades. The Bell UH-1Y engages threats, inserts or exfiltrates personnel and performs under the most punishing operating conditions, making it the ultimate tactical utility helicopter. The Bell UH-1Y was first deployed with the United States Marine Corps in 2009. The Huey lineage can be traced back to combat action in Vietnam, but today’s Bell UH-1Y is a new construction, thoroughly modern, marinized combat aircraft.
These attack and utility helicopters are currently in production with the work being performed in the Fort Worth, Texas manufacturing facility and also in the Amarillo, Texas aircraft assembly facility. This contract is part of the U.S. Marine Corps’ H-1 Program of Record, calling for the purchase of 189 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and 160 UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters.
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Press Contact: ANDREW WOODWARD +1 817-280-3100 mediarelations@bh.com
About Bell
Thinking above and beyond is what we do. For more than 85 years, we’ve been reimagining the experience of flight – and where it can take us.
We are pioneers. We were the first to break the sound barrier and to certify a commercial helicopter. We were a part of NASA’s first lunar mission and brought advanced tiltrotor systems to market. Today, we’re defining the future of advanced air mobility.
Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas – as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Textron Inc., – we have strategic locations around the globe. And with nearly one quarter of our workforce having served, helping our military achieve their missions is a passion of ours.
Above all, our breakthrough innovations deliver exceptional experiences to our customers. Efficiently. Reliably. And always, with safety at the forefront.
About Textron
Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Pipistrel, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, and Textron Systems. For more information, visit: www.textron.com.
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, changes in aircraft delivery schedules or cancellations or deferrals of orders; our ability to keep pace with our competitors in the introduction of new products and upgrades with features and technologies desired by our customers; changes in government regulations or policies on the export and import of our products; volatility in the global economy or changes in worldwide political conditions that adversely impact demand for our products; volatility in interest rates or foreign exchange rates; and risks related to our international business, including establishing and maintaining facilities in locations around the world and relying on joint venture partners, subcontractors, suppliers, representatives, consultants and other business partners in connection with international business, including in emerging market countries.
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