Friday
June 24, 2005
Bell Submits Bid for US Army's 368 aircraft
Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter Program
Fort Worth, Texas, USA ( Bell Helicopters Press Release ) -
Bell Helicopter today submitted a bid
for a militarized version of its enormously successful Bell 407 single
engine light helicopter in response to a Request For Proposal (RFP) issued
by the U.S. Army for an Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH). The ARH
decision, expected in late July, calls for a total of 368 aircraft to be
delivered between fiscal years 2006 through 2011.
Bell Helicopter believes its Bell 407 is the perfect aircraft for meeting
the Army's current and future ARH mission requirements. The Bell ARH, which
will be built at Bell's Military Assembly and Integration Center in
Amarillo, Texas, will draw from a large and talented supplier base for its
sophisticated sensors, weapons and defensive systems.
In anticipation of the bid proposal, Bell has been flying an ARH
demonstrator helicopter at the company's XworX facility to flight test
handling qualities for the aircraft.
The ARH will replace the Army's OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, armed reconnaissance
helicopter which has proven to be one of the most reliable and capable
combat aircraft in the history of US Army aviation. Bell designed and
performed the systems integration on the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, the Army's
first fully digitized helicopter which has accumulated over 1.1 million
hours of flight time, including 200,000 combat flight hours.
Bell Helicopter is teamed with a number of world-class aerospace suppliers
in support of the ARH program in the areas of Mission Equipment Package
(MEP) and training systems integration. Rockwell Collins, Honeywell, FLIR
Systems, L-3, Flight Safety (FSI) and Computer Sciences Corporation round
out Bell Helicopter's team in bringing the best of industry to the Bell ARH
program for the Army.
Capable of being equipped with a wide variety of weapons, the Bell ARH will
provide the Army with exceptional mission versatility and flexibility to
accomplish the armed reconnaissance, light attack, troop insertion, and
special operations missions with a single aircraft. The Bell ARH will
provide this flexibility during the day and at night as well as during
adverse weather or periods of poor visibility.
The Bell ARH provides the Army's aeroscouts survivability features that
include low IR signature; warning and active countermeasures; armor
protection of crew and flight critical systems; and unsurpassed crashworthy
improvements and the ability to carry three Warfighters. These features
increase the likelihood of survival in the most extreme battlefield
conditions.
The Bell ARH will be powered by the Honeywell HTS900 turbine engine that is
based on proven, mature commercial and U.S. Army T800 technology and design.
In additional to being designed for extremely low Direct Operating Costs
(DOC), the HTS900 turbine engine will be equipped with a sophisticated
dual-channel full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system, based on
T800 technology. The HTS900 provides the power needed today with growth to
accommodate changing missions and mission equipment packages expected in the
future.
One of the key requirements of the Army's RFP is deployability. Two Bell
ARH helicopters can be deployed aboard a C-130 and be unloaded, flyable and
ready to fight within 15 minutes.
The Bell ARH will be supported by Bell's industry-leading product
support organization with over 180 locations throughout the world.
The Bell 407 is one of most popular and reliable aircraft in the commercial
helicopter market. Since its FAA certification in February 1996, Bell has
delivered 625 Bell 407's to customers throughout the world, making it the
fastest selling turbine powered civil helicopter in history. In fact, Bell
demonstrated its capability for high production rates with the 407 by
producing 140 aircraft per year in both 1997 and 1998.
The 407 has proven to be the perfect aircraft for customers in virtually
every conceivable helicopter market including: Corporate, Law Enforcement,
EMS, Electronic News Gathering and Utility. Operators fly Bell 407
helicopters in over 50 countries around the world. The current fleet of
Bell 407 helicopters has logged over 1.25 million flight hours, with the
high time aircraft topping 10,000 flight hours.
Bell Helicopter is a subsidiary of Textron Inc. 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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