Bell hopes Czech helicopter deal will spur regional expansion

KIELCE, Poland — In early September, Bell obtained a foreign military deal worth $272 million from the U.S. Navy to supply eight UH-1Y Venom and four AH-1Z Viper helos to the Czech Republic. With the 12 copters scheduled to be produced for the Czech Air Force until November 2023, the U.S. manufacturer is on the prowl for further aircraft orders across the region.

At the MSPO defense-industry show in Kielce, company representatives presented their offer for the Polish military which aims to acquire 32 multirole helos under the Perkoz program, and a further 32 combat helos under the Kruk program in the coming years. Bell says it is offering the AH-1Z Viper for the Kruk program.

“The Czech Republic is the first European country to buy both platforms together,” said Joel Best, the director for global military sales and strategy at Bell. “When you look for a package that would also fit the Perkoz program, we have the capacity to mix different functionalities” with these two helos, he said.

Poland’s two copter acquisitions are to be be carried out as part of the Polish Defence Ministry’s Technical Modernization Plan until 2026. The plan foresees a number of military acquisitions for a total of PLN 185 billion ($49 billion).

More In Europe

Saab unveils technology incubator using Enforcer 3 as test bed

“We are trying to get capability to the fleet in months,” said Erik Smith, the chief executive of Saab's U.S. branch.

Lockheed to supply Australia with air battle management system

Overhauling Australia’s overhead defenses is expected to generate hundreds of local jobs as well as open the door to a multibillion-dollar export market.

Defense Innovation Unit prepares to execute $800 million funding boost

DIU Director Doug Beck said he doesn’t foresee any issues with quickly putting to work the $983 million in FY-24 funding Congress provided in March.

Army may swap AI bill of materials for simpler ‘baseball cards’

"We know innovation's happening in the open-source environment," said the Army's Bharat Patel. "We also know who's contributing to the open source."

How L3Harris is shoring up its small satellite supply chain

The president of L3Harris’ space systems sector, recently sat down with C4ISRNET to discuss the challenges of developing a diverse yet mature supply base.