Bell Helicopter announced May 11 it has been awarded a $461.1 million U.S. military contract to supply the U.S. Marine Corps with new utility and attack helicopters.
The contract, awarded in March, includes 12 UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters and 16 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and the associated auxiliary fuel kits.
“The UH-1Y utility and AH-1Z attack helicopters continue to perform for the United States Marine Corps, delivering on our promise of technologically advanced aircraft the Marines can rely on to accomplish their challenging missions,” said Lisa Atherton, executive vice president of Military Business for Bell Helicopter. “The Venom and Viper are a powerful, comprehensive duo, designed and manufactured to reduce logistical requirements and environmentally hardened to perform for armed forces over land or sea.”
The Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter is capable of carrying a wide array of ordnance. It includes Bell’s AH-1Z’s long-range target sight system, which allows the identification and tracking of multiple targets. , It also has integrated air-to-air strike capability i
The Bell UH-1Y was first deployed with the United States Marine Corps in 2009. The Huey lineage can be traced back to combat action in Vietnam, but today’s Bell UH-1Y is a new construction, thoroughly modern, marinized combat aircraft.
These helicopters are currently in production with the work being performed in the Fort Worth manufacturing facility and also in the Amarillo aircraft assembly facility. This contract is part of the U.S. Marine Corps’ H-1 Program of Record, calling for the purchase of 189 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and 160 UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters.