TSAMTO, July 23. Bell (a division of Textron Inc.) has started production of UH-1Y "Venom" multi-purpose helicopters for the first foreign customer.
The production is carried out within the framework of the contract signed by Bell in 2020 for the supply of UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters for the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. Crestview Aerospace, a Bell subcontractor, has completed production of the first of eight cabins at its plant in Florida. The final assembly of the helicopters will be carried out at the Bell Amarillo assembly Center.
Bell delivered the last UH-1Y multirole helicopter to the US Marine Corps in April 2018 and is currently continuing production and delivery of AH-1Z attack helicopters under a contract for the supply of 349 H-1 helicopters, including 160 UH-1Y and 189 AH-1Z. The unification of UH-1Y with AH-1Z is 85%. This allowed us to maintain the supply chain of critical UH-1Y components during the production of the AH-1Z for the USMC.
The UH-1Y and AH-1Z use the same engines, an integrated combat system and dynamic components, including a four-bladed main rotor. Both helicopters are specially designed for expeditionary operations.
Bell expects that the production of the H-1 for the USMC will be completed before the beginning of 2022, after which deliveries for foreign military customers will continue. At the moment, Bell has signed two contracts for the supply of helicopters under the "Foreign Military Sales" program - to Bahrain and the Czech Republic.
As reported by TSAMTO, in May 2019, the US State Department approved the supply of 4 AH-1Z attack helicopters and related equipment to the Czech Republic under the Foreign Military Sales Program (FMS) with a total cost of $ 205 million. Earlier, in October 2017, the US State Department approved the sale of up to 12 UH-1Y multi-purpose helicopters to the Czech Republic under the FMS program, with a total cost of up to $ 575 million.
After evaluating the proposals submitted by the United States at the end of 2019, the Czech Ministry of Defense recognized the optimal purchase, based on the needs of the armed forces, of a combination of 8 multi-purpose UH-1Y and 4 shock AH-1Z.
On December 12, 2019, the US and Czech Defense ministers signed a letter with a proposal and acceptance of an offer to sell the UH-1Y "Venom" and AH-1Z "Viper"helicopters to the Czech Armed Forces. The total cost of the sale was about $ 650 million. It is planned that the deliveries should be completed in 2024.
The US Navy signed the first contract with Bell Textron worth $ 272.161 million for the supply of 8 UH-1Y and 4 AH-1Z helicopters for the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic in September 2020 under the Foreign Military Sales program.
