Mexico's Attorney General's Office has ordered 24 Bell 206L-4 LongRanger helicopters for use in anti-drug missions. The $35 million deal calls for the first four machines to be delivered by December and the remaining 20 by next September. The new 206s, assembled at Bell's base in Montreal, Canada, will be fitted with aerial spray equipment and operate with three Bell 407 helicopters ordered earlier in the year.
Source: Flight International
Bell says civil aviation regulators are completing the last few evaluation flights on the new super-medium-twin helicopter, with executives hoping for a certification decision before the end of 2024.
Turkish Aerospace is seeing progress across its rotorcraft portfolio, with continued work on the 6t T625 Gokbey helicopter and a pending restart of T-70 production.
Just seven flights and 9h into its test campaign, Airbus Helicopters Racer technology demonstrator has already beaten its 220kt (407km/h) target speed and opened up 80% of its flight envelope since its 24 April maiden sortie.
