Interview – Bell Textron Inc.

In September 2024, ESD got the chance to conduct an interview with Bell Textron Inc. personnel. The interview was conducted by Ian Frain.

ESD: Congratulations on recent achievements in both the military (Milestone B for the V-280 Valor/FLRAA,) and parapublic marketplace (Bell 505 and Bell 407Gxi to law enforcement agencies) – how would you sum up Bell’s overall strategy in both marketplaces?

Bell Textron Inc.: Following Milestone B, The Bell FLRAA team will proceed with Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) which involves finalizing the detailed design of the aircraft to the US Army’s specifications and development of the first set of prototype test aircraft.

For the commercial side of business, Bell is committed to delivering exceptional aircraft to meet every customer’s mission needs and offering global support solutions to all our customers. Bell is seeing greater interest in our parapublic aircraft, announcing SUBARU Bell 412EPX sales to Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Interior, San Diego Fire-Rescue and Japan Coast Guard this year. The Designer Series Bell 429, Bell’s latest luxury interior solution, has garnered attention and sales in the Asia-Pacific market. Bell is also investing in technologies and newly certified onboard equipment to deliver the most reliable, operationally cost competitive aircraft to market, We continue to see interest in the Bell 525 in the offshore segment and announced a deal for 10 aircraft to Equinor earlier this year.

ESD: There’s a rich history of co-operation with Italy (then Agusta on legacy products from the 1960s onwards such as AB-47, AB-206, AB-205, Ab-212 and AB-412), and now Bell has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Leonardo on taking the tilt rotor forward with regard to the NATO Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability Program (NGRC), Concept Study 5. – what are your views on how this will progress and on NGRC as a whole?

Bell Textron Inc.: Leonardo and all OEMs in the consortium welcome the award to proceed with the NATO NGRC – Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability Concept Study 5 phase. This study will benefit from the collaboration among the key leading industry players grouped in our consortium, all of them strongly committed to delivering solid results based on the unmatched capabilities of our technologies, leveraging the broadest spectrum of know-hows and expertise in their relevant sectors.

ESD: In recent years we have seen firsts for Bell in Europe, with the AH-1Z/UH-1Y for the Czech Air Force, Bell 505M entering service with Montenegro Air Force, and first Subaru Bell 412EPX due for delivery to Croatian Ministry of the Interior. How do you see Bell’s strength in Europe for both the military and parapublic marketplace?

Bell Textron Inc.: Those are all great examples that show the range or military and paramilitary products that Bell is offering to Europe. Through the hard work and dedication of the Czech Ministry of Defense office and supporting industrial partners, we are pleased the Czech H-1s are now in full service with the Czech Republic, bringing more capabilities and agility than ever before. Special Military Aircraft also continue to bridge the gap between fully dedicated military service aircraft and civil aircraft by offering dynamic and customisable solutions. As the European market continues to grow, Bell is uniquely situated to address military and paramilitary aircraft needs by offering the right aircraft, for the right mission, with unparalleled support.

ESD: In a similar vein, how do you see Bell’s place in the military marketplace in the Middle East in the next decade?

Bell Textron Inc.: Bell military aircraft have a proven history operating in the middle east including an impressive track record in the early days of the gulf war where the AH-1W flew more than 1,200 sorties with zero losses and are credited with destroying more than 9,700 tanks and more than 100 armoured personnel carriers and vehicles. The AH-1Z improves upon our proven platform with modern avionics that are optimised for operating in austere conditions with a small logistics footprint.

Last year Bell completed the Program of record for AH-1Zs to the Kingdom of Bahrain and continues to support the lifecycle of the aircraft to ensure reliability, survivability and lethality on the modern battlefield.

The Middle East marketplace is also an area for tremendous growth as countries in the region can benefit from either Bell’s dedicated military aircraft or from our Special Missions Aircraft offerings.

ESD: What is next for Bell?

Bell Textron Inc.: Bell Textron is 100% focused and dedicated to executing the Army’s FLRAA program working hand in hand with the Army.  We know schedule and costs are critical, and we are resourcing to ensure schedule and adjusting our business to control costs. Secondly, Bell 525 Certification and EIS. We’re really close and working final stages of Type Inspection Authorisation (TIA) flight testing in partnership with the FAA on all remaining certification efforts. We only have a few TIA tests remaining, culminating in Function and Reliability testing. Following that, we’ll turn everything over to the FAA, and it’ll be in their hands.

Finally, we continue to prioritise 505 IERW, Ideally suited to train the US Army’s future aviator. The Bell 505 is the most versatile, capable, light helicopter in its class making it the ideal platform for training operations and has proven to be an excellent military trainer for our customers.

The interview was conducted by Ian Frain.