Bell Helicopter Wins US Navy’s H-1 Upgrade Program Support Contract

Bell Helicopter has won a $9.2 million modification contract in support of the H-1 Upgrade helicopter.

This order provides for five aircraft wiring and integration remote terminal/cockpit wiring and integration remote terminal/flight control computer/flight controller computer refreshed test stations, the US Department of Defense said in a statement Wednesday.

The  H-1 upgrade program is a US Marine Corps' program to develop the AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom military helicopters to replace its aging fleets of AH-1W SuperCobras and UH-1N Twin Hueys. The contract was awarded in 1996 to Bell Helicopter, the original manufacturer of both aircraft, to design the new airframes as modernized attack and utility helicopters with considerable design commonality, to reduce operating costs.

Work for the current contract is expected to be completed in May 2022.