Rotorcraft manufacturer Bell has advanced to the next stage of a competition to provide a new helicopter trainer to the US Army, marking the first potential vendor to move forward.
Bell on 5 January said the army has advanced its bid for the Flight School Next contract, which includes both a fleet of new aircraft and a comprehensive instructional programme for new rotary-wing pilots.
“With Bell’s extensive history in military flight training, the proven Bell 505 and the expertise of our teammates, we are confident that our turnkey solution will support the army in developing the next generation of aviation warfighters,” says Jeffrey Schloesser, vice-president of strategic pursuits at Bell.
Schloesser is also a retired two-star general who commanded the helicopter-centric 101st Airborne Division and a battalion of the army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
Bell’s Flight School Next bid pairs the 505 light-single with the company’s Bell Training Academy to combine the four disparate contracts that comprise the army’s current Initial Entry Rotary-Wing programme, which uses contracted instruction and aircraft sustainment services, with instructors and students flying government-owned Airbus Helicopters UH-72A aircraft.
The army’s Program Executive Office for Aviation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on if and when other competitors will be advanced.
Under the Flight School Next initiative, the army is seeking to consolidate that programme under a single provider.
Bell faces stiff competition for the deal from other defence industry heavyweights, including Lockheed Martin, which has similarly touted its own “turnkey” approach to flight training currently used in Australia, Singapore and the UK.
Lockheed has not yet revealed which aircraft it will bid for the US Army programme, but the company tells FlightGlobal it plans to release that information this month.
Elsewhere, Boeing and rotorcraft manufacturer Leonardo Helicopters have teamed up to compete a proposal based around Leonardo’s AW119T light-single. That type is already in service as the primary rotary-wing trainer for the US Navy and Marine Corps, designated the TH-73.
Other contenders include MD Helicopters with a 530F offer and a bid from Robinson based around the R66.
