Bell Helicopter Wins ARH Contract for 3 Billion

[CTR]

The Army announced today that they have selected the Bell Helicopter
Model 407 as the winner for the ARH contract beating out Boeing. The
Army contract is for 380 light armed recon helos to replace the OH-58
Kiowa Warriors.

The Shinerbock and Lone Star beer is flowing in Fort Worth Texas
tonight!

Have fun,

CTR

[Linc]

No offense to any Boeing/MDH fans, but thank goodness!!

[Helowriter]

I'm sure the new ARH will do fine. It's needed.

Goes to show you. Bell lost the competition to build the Army a new
armed scout helicopter and winds up building the Army an armed scout
helicopter.

That said, it is sort of disappointing that OH-58s will replace the
OH-58s that replaced OH-58s, but that's Army procurement. (Yes, I know
the ARH has a 407 rotor system and a new engine derived from
everybody's favorite LTS101, but it still looks like a 406CS Combat
Scout. Funny, the Advanced Scout Helicopter that spawned the OH-58D
was once supposed to use a throw-away LTS101.).

For the next 30 years, it would have been nice to have a survivable,
low-observable, crashworthy scout like the Comanche was supposed to be.
Hope they saved those radar-absorbing blade cuffs and fairings from
those OH-58Ds in the 18th Airborne Corps.

HW

[Linc]

I'm sure glad that we didn't get saddled with that oversized, and what
would've been soon an overweight and overtasked money pit!!

[Helowriter]

Okay, so we're saddled with OH-58s forever. Somehow, that was never
the plan.

HW

[CTR]

So HW,

Any thoughts on who is going to win the LUH contract?

CTR

[Helowriter]

Well, I like the MDExplorer, and it would be nice to advance the state
of the art with a NOTAR LUH. They've had a decade to work out the
kinks, and I think the MDExplorer would be a durable utility
helicopter.

That said, the 210/Huey would probably be a low-cost choice, easy to
field and support, If Bell adds some new technology to the basic air
vehicle, the Huey could be a good choice.

The helicopter is only one part of the Package. Personally, I'd
rather a helicopter company -- Bell -- be the LUH prime.

I think we should see if Lockheed comes in on schedule and within
budget on VXX before Owego leads another helo program.

HW