Thursday
December 8, 2005
412 LUH Ready and Able
Bell Helicopter's Submission for Army's Light Utility Helicopter Surpasses
3.1 Million Flight Hour Milestone
FORT WORTH, TX, USA ( Bell Helicopters Press Release) -
Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, reported today that their reliable 412 medium twin-engine
helicopter recently surpassed the 3.1 million flight hour milestone. The
Bell 412 was recently offered to fulfill the US Army's requirement for a new
Light Utility Helicopter, or LUH.
"This is a tremendous accomplishment for the Bell 412 and our base of
customers who are successfully operating the 412 in more than 40 countries
around the world," said Bob Fitzpatrick, senior vice president of Marketing
and Sales for Bell Helicopter. "This record of 3.1 million flight hours
flown with proven reliability, maintainability and performance is exactly
why we proposed the 412 to be the Army's next LUH."
Bell Helicopter has a six-decade history of providing the US Military with
reliable, high value-to-cost aircraft. From the venerable UH-1 to the
currently serving, combat proven UH-1N, AH-1W and the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior,
Bell Helicopter continues to enable America's military to successfully
perform their critical missions all over the world.
"Like America's soldiers, the Bell 412 gets up and goes to work every single
day, all over the world," said Mike Miller, Executive Director of Army and
Air Force Business Development for Bell Helicopter "And also like our
soldiers, the Bell 412 is a proven performer."
The Army's new LUH will support a variety of missions such as personnel and
equipment transport, force protection and security, MEDEVAC, disaster
relief, homeland security and counter-drug operations to name just a few.
"The Bell 412 is performing LUH type missions today with tremendous
success," Miller said. "Nearly 30 countries currently employ the 412, as
well as Bell's award winning logistics support network, to successfully
accomplish the same military missions the Army LUH will perform."
The Canadian Forces currently operate 83 Bell 412 aircraft with a mission
reliability rate of 95.7%. The British Army currently operates 15 Bell
412EPs with a mission reliability rate of 98.2%. And the Royal Norwegian Air
Force operates 18 412SPs and recently boasted that the RNoAF's 412SP
helicopter fleet has not experienced any failures that resulted in a mission
cancellation.
"We are extremely proud of the reliability, availability and maintainability
record of our Bell 412," Miller said. "So when we say that the 412 LUH is
ready and able to fulfill the Army's LUH role, we can cite 3.1 million
flight hours and the superb availability record of our 740-strong world-wide
commercial and military 412 customer fleet."
The FAA-certified Bell 412EP meets all the requirements listed in the Army's
request for proposal. And in many cases, Bell's LUH exceeds the requirements
including endurance, airspeed, range, lift requirements, growth capacity,
mission reliability, operational availability and more.
"In the Bell LUH, we are offering the Army a reliable, proven helicopter, as
well as Bell's award winning product support, customer service and
training." Miller said. "For eleven years our customer support and
logistics networks have been named the best in the industry...there is no
learning curve for us...we know how to support our customers through the
life of their aircraft."
Bell has partnered with a world-class team of suppliers including Pratt and
Whitney, Honeywell, Chelton/Wulfsberg Electronics, Goodrich, Intellegent
Automation Corporation, East/West Industries, Inc., Simula, and FreeFlight.
"We have a proven relationship with our suppliers that spans years," Miller
explained. "This is not a team we threw together for the sake of this LUH
offering. Our partnership with our partner suppliers is proven."
"With a 412 fleet 740 helicopter strong, 3.1 million flight hours, and a
customer support network rated #1 for 11 years, Bell Helicopter is ready to
provide our Army with their next LUH," said Fitzpatrick.
Bell Helicopter is a leading producer of commercial and military helicopters
and the pioneer of the revolutionary tilt rotor aircraft. Globally
recognized for customer service, innovation and superior quality, Bell's
global workforce serves customers flying Bell aircraft in over 120
countries.
Textron Inc. is a $10 billion multi-industry company with 44,000 employees
in 40 countries. The company leverages its global network of aircraft,
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 Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming,
E-Z-GO and Greenlee, among others.
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