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PARIS AIR SHOW — With increased demand worldwide for low-cost armed helicopters, Texas-based Bell says it’s found a balance between demand, supply and Foreign Military Sales-related obstacles offering militarized commercial helicopters to some customers on tighter budgets.
At this year’s Paris Air show, a Bell 429 helicopter was exhibited in the static display in its police configuration, which the company says can be militarized through weapons integration upon request to become what’s known as a special mission aircraft (SMA).
“Because many countries don’t have the budget to afford a military helicopter like AH-64 Apache or modern, large, purpose-built helicopter like the AH-1Z [Viper], countries request cost-effective platforms,” Douglas Wolfe, managing director of sales and strategy international sales at Bell, told Breaking Defense.
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He added that a Bell 412 helicopter that is fully militarized can be equipped with rockets, guns and missiles and is highly modular. Should the buyer want other capabilities, the company said the transformed helos can also be outfitted with platforms specific to MEDEVAC, ISR or other non-combat missions.
“We build all of our commercial aircraft at Mirabel [in Canada] and then move them to the finishing centers, where we test them for flight and integrate weapons management system, different kinds of ISR and radios and armaments according to the customer requirements,” Wolfe said.
“These platforms are having significant interest around the world,” he explained, though he said the US military is still the company’s “primary customer.”
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Wolf said that when foreign nations do place orders, militarizing a civil aircraft shortens the time for approvals needed, since it’s not the whole airframe itself that needs approval but the weapons systems that would be added to it.
The Foreign Military Sales “process does take a while, particularly for bigger procurements like [the] Zulu. But for commercial aircraft, and through our agreement with the [American] armed forces office, the process is much quicker,” Wolfe said. “We cannot put a specific timeline on each effort, [but] a key benefit is that these aircraft can be outfitted, acquired, and fielded much more quickly and affordably when compared with purpose built military aircraft.”
Although the company official wouldn’t say exactly what countries have shown increased interest in the cheaper militarized birds, Wolfe claimed geopolitical events have highlighted the need.
“The Russian war in Ukraine has really heightened everyone’s awareness and interest in their self-defense. We are seeing demand globally, and in the Middle East,” he said.
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