US Army backs Bell''s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters programme
16 Oct 2007
According to Brig Gen Stephen Mundt, director of Army aviation, the restructured $5.4 billion programme should be back on track if everything goes as expected with the November trials, as well as a January start of production and Bell''s transfer of production facilities from Canada to Texas.
Success in all three events would allow the Army to award Textron''s Bell Helicopter unit a contract for 16 low-rate initial production aircraft and also provide funds for the production of 10 more. According to Brig Gen Mundt, it was now up to Bell to prove its commitment. "There are no more eggs for this omelette," he said.
Col Tim Crosby, another senior Army aviation official, said Congress, the Army and top Pentagon officials would closely monitor Bell''s work on the programme. "We''ve enabled them to make this aircraft. Now they''ve got to demonstrate that they''re going to do it," he said, asserting there were no technological challenges.
The issue with the ARH helicopter arose after a big jump in projected costs, which have jumped to $9 million each, from the initially projected $5.2 million each. But the final price would depend on decisions made by top Pentagon officials, Army officials said.
The Army plans to buy 512 ARH helicopters for a possible deployment by 2017. The Pentagon''s high-level Defense Acquisition Board is due to review the restructuring plan on Oct. 30.
According
to Army officials, cost growth and schedule delays arose after Bell killed plans
for a commercial rotorcraft that would have been used to test the ARH. Bell has
already done over 900 hours of flight tests on three developmental aircraft, and
according to company sources, the helicopters are doing well.
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