Textron‘s Bell Helicopter subsidiary has changed its name to “Bell” and adopted a new logo to reflect the company’s focus on innovation and customer experience. Bell said Thursday it collaborated with brand and design consultancy FutureBrand to complete the rebranding, which will be carried out over the next year. The two companies started the project in the […] More

A Spirit AeroSystems-built fuselage was used on the first flight of the Bell Helicopter-designed V-280 Valor aircraft at the latter’s Amarillo, Texas-based facility. Spirit AeroSystems said Wednesday it developed the aluminum sub-structured fuel fuselage in under 22 months at its Kansas-based facility in support of the Bell V-280 Valor program. The Bell V-280 Valor program […] More

Textron‘s Bell Helicopter subsidiary has conducted the first flight of a next-generation tiltrotor aircraft built to help U.S. military clients meet requirements for a vertical lift platform. Textron said Monday the V-280 Valor aircraft was designed to help users conduct various vertical lift missions previously infeasible using one aircraft as well as offer updated speed […] More

LifePort, a business unit of Lockheed Martin‘s Sikorsky subsidiary, has received supplemental type certification from the Federal Aviation Administration to integrate ballistic protection technology into a Bell Helicopter aircraft platform. Lockheed said Monday the certification allows LifePort to equip Bell 412EP combat utility helicopters with the Ballistic Protection System. BPS operators can configure the system to address ballistic threat […] More

Textron‘s Bell Helicopter subsidiary has received a $27.2 million modification under a a U.S. Army foreign military sales contract to deliver four Bell 412EP utility helicopters to the Argentina’s air force. The Defense Department said Thursday Bell Helicopter will also provide helicopter training services under the modification. Work is expected to finish by June 20, 2018. The 412EP […] More

Romanian Defense Minister Adrian Tutuianu has signed a letter addressed to the U.S government that expresses the European country’s intent to buy Bell Helicopter-built attack helicopters. Tutuianu, Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose and other senior government officials discussed the planned purchase with Bell Helicopter representatives at a meeting held last week, the Romanian government said in […] More

Bell Helicopter, a subsidiary of Textron, has introduced a shipborne unmanned aerial system designed to combine helicopters’ vertical lift function with the speed and range of fixed-wing aircraft. Textron said Thursday it expects production of the Bell V-247 Vigilant tiltrotor UAS to  begin in 2023 to support operations in maritime environments and locations without runways. Bell developed the UAS platform to help military customers […] More

A joint venture of Boeing and Bell Helicopter has landed a $55 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy for repair services on various parts of its multirole combat aircraft. The Defense Department said Tuesday the Bell Boeing Joint Program Office will provide its repair services on V-22 aircraft at facilities in Texas and Pennsylvania through December 2017. Naval […] More

Bell Helicopter has received an order to produce two Bell 429s for the Indonesian National Police in order to aid in law enforcement operations and security efforts in the country. Damos Nasution, president of Multi Pacific, said Thursday “the selection of the Bell 429 will help improve the Indonesian Police’s support capability to ensure the […] More

Argentina’s request to buy $80 million in Bell 412EP helicopters built by the Textron subsidiary Bell has received clearance from the State Department. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Wednesday the proposed foreign military sale includes four Bell 412EPs, helicopter major components and spare parts, pilot and maintenance training and logistics support. DSCA said Argentina seeks to bolster its air mobility efforts […] More

Kaman Corp. has been awarded a more than $25 million follow-on contract to build military rotor blade components for Bell Helicopter’s UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters. Kaman’s Aerosystems division will manufacture skin and skin-to-core components at the company’s Bloomfield, Connecticut-based facility under the five-year extension, Kaman said Thursday. Tim Bates, general manager of Kaman composite structures, […] More

China-based Chongqing General Aviation has purchased four Bell Helicopter-built aircraft to for parapublic missions such as search and rescue, firefighting and other disaster management efforts. Chris Jaran, managing director for Bell Helicopter in China, said Friday the two Bell 412EPI and two Bell 407GX aircraft are intended to support the Chongqing fire protection bureau. “We needed aircraft with capabilities above […] More