Bell Completes Production of AH-1Z Attack Helicopter For Bahrain Program
The AH-1Z program of record (POR) for the Kingdom of Bahrain has been completed, Bell Textron, a subsidiary of American Textron Inc., said on Monday, 20 February. The completion of the Bahrain AH-1Z program follows Bell’s completion of the U.S. Marine Corps program of record, marking the achievement of two significant H-1 production milestones in a single year.
Bell Vice President and H-1 program director Mike Deslatte commented on the completion of the Bahrain AH-1Z program of record, saying, “Congratulations to the Kingdom of Bahrain on obtaining the latest generation of the AH-1Zs. As a leader in the region, Bahrain’s defensive capabilities will be further bolstered by the advanced technologies of the Viper.”
Bahrain received the AH-1Z attack helicopters as part of a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement that was approved in April 2018 and signed in February 2019. The $912 million deal included 12 AH-1Z helicopters, as well as Lockheed Martin’s AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, BAE Systems’ APKWS II precision-guided munitions, and Thales’ TopOwl Helmet Mounted Display. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) stated at the time that the AH-1Z attack helicopters would increase Bahrain’s ability to counter current and future threats, and that the gulf country would use this capability as a deterrent against regional threats and to strengthen homeland defense.
Bell Textron began production of the first AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter for the Royal Bahraini Air Force (RBAF) in April 2021 at the Bell Amarillo assembly center. The company completed the helicopter’s production approximately six months after the first helicopter was put on the assembly line and prepared it for shipment to the RBAF. The RBAF received its first batch of six helicopters in 2022 and displayed two of them at the Bahrain International Airshow. The RBAF will receive the remaining six aircraft in 2023. Before being transferred to Bahrain, the helicopters will be prepared for shipment by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). These helicopters will join the 30 modernized AH1-P Cobra Attack helicopters in the RBAF’s inventory, providing significant air power for Bahrain.