Bell Textron Canada Ltd. announced today the purchase agreement for six Bell 407GXi utility helicopters. The government-to-government contract was executed between the Ministry of Defense of Argentina and the Canadian Commercial Corporation. The Bell 407GXi helicopters will be operated by the Argentinean Air Force and Army to assist in Search and Rescue Missions. The 407GXi’s Garmin G1000H™ NXi Flight Deck enhances situational awareness and reduces pilot workload by delivering easy-to-read information at a glance. The Bell 407GXi’s new IFR capability will allow all-weather operations while continuing to provide multi-mission capability safely, reliably, and effectively.
This announcement is a testament to the long-standing partnership of Bell and CCC to deliver Canadian-built helicopters to customers around the globe. The Argentinian MOD will be well-served by the unmatched reliability and performance of its new Bell 407GXi fleet, and our team is delighted to enable their search and rescue mission.” said Steeve Lavoie, Bell Textron Canada ltd.
“The Bell 407GXi is a proven platform in high-altitude environments and will be pivotal to Argentina’s Military Search and Rescue operations. All six Bell 407GXis will be outfitted in a utility configuration critical to rescue missions in Argentina’s mountainous terrain,” said John Ramos, managing director, Latin America.
The Bell 407 is a four-blade, single-engine, civil utility helicopter. A derivative of the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger, the 407 uses the four-blade, soft-in-plane design rotor with composite hub developed for the United States Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior instead of the two-blade, semi-rigid, teetering rotor of the 206L-4. On March 4, 2013, Bell unveiled a new armed version of the Bell 407GX, named the 407GT. Bell proves its mature production and sustainment support capability with more than 1,600 Bell 407s globally, logging six million flight hours across the fleet and actively performing flight training as well as military and para-public missions. Bell 407GXi is a marketing designation for the 407 with Rolls-Royce 250-C47E/4 engine and Garmin G1000H NXi avionics.
Founded in 1986, Bell Textron Canada Ltd. is now represented by 1,400 highly skilled employees across the country focused on innovation, customer experience and superior service and support for customers around the globe. Bell Textron Canada Ltd. is responsible for Bell’s current commercial production line, including the Bell 505, Bell 407GXi, Bell 429 and SUBARU Bell 412EPX. To date, the company has built more than 5,600 commercial helicopters and delivered more than 1,000 aircraft to Canadian customers. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Pipistrel, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, and Textron Systems.
