AH-1Z Viper helicopter
Bell Textron has won a $23 million contract to support UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters operated by the U.S. military, Bahrain and Czech Republic.
This order provides engineering and logistics support, procures four resident integrated logistics support detachment computer seats, trailer lease site for flight test engineers, support equipment workaround material and aircraft wiring integration remote terminal and flight control computer test station material in support of Marine Corps (USMC) AH-1Z; the governments of Bahrain and the Czech Republic UH-1Y and AH-1Z production aircraft; and USMC UH-1Y and AH-1Z aircraft modifications and sustainment.
Work is expected to be completed in February 2022.
H-1 Upgrade Program
In December 2019, Bell Textron won an $815 million deal involving repair, upgrade and replacement of components under its H-1 Upgrade Program. It is an USMC project to develop AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom military helicopters to replace its aging fleets of AH-1W SuperCobras and UH-1N Twin Hueys. The contract was awarded in 1996 to Bell Helicopter, the original manufacturer of both aircraft, to design the new airframes as modernized attack and utility helicopters with considerable design commonality, to reduce operating costs.