Bell Wins New OH-58D Army Contract

Bell Helicopter has announced that it has received a contract for the nonrecurring engineering and a "new metal" OH-58D cabin, as part of the OH-58D Wartime Replacement Aircraft Cabin program. The contract is the latest to have continually added additional Kiowa Warrior helicopters to address attrition rates with the extensively utilized United States Army Kiowa Warrior fleet. Jim Schultz, Bell Helicopter program director for Army Programs and Fielded Systems stated, "This new contract shows the continued importance of the Kiowa Warrior to the US Army. With its track record of operational readiness and reliability, it continues to be the most demanded support asset by our combat troops and we are proud to be able to provide zero-time airframe replacements for such a remarkable aircraft". This contract includes airframe age, attrition, and refreshes the engineering and manufacturing planning for the OH-58D air vehicle. Previously Bell Helicopter was taking older A-model cabins and remanufacturing them into D-model cabins; this contract now addresses airframe age providing a completely new metal cabin. While flying combat missions, the OH-58D has maintained the highest operational tempo (OPTEMPO), readiness, and mission-capable rates of any Army aircraft in Iraq or Afghanistan.