Bell Helicopter is planning to offer its AH-1Z attack helicopter to Poland for a forthcoming requirement to replace the Mil M-24s operated by the country’s land forces.
“We can provide the most cost-effective solution and state-of the-art helicopter with unmatched capability for Poland,” says Joel Best, regional director, military business development at the US manufacturer.
“We are very interested in co-operation with Poland and in next few months we want to create Zulu Team with companies in the Polish defence sector,” he says.
Intriguingly, Bell is also touting the UH-1Y utility variant as a back-up plan in case Warsaw’s proposed tri-service order with Airbus Helicopters for 50 H225Ms falls through.
“If something happens with the Caracal deal, Bell will be happy to provide an attack and utility combination, with 85% of technical commonality and significant cost saving,” adds Mike Gleason, international military business development at Bell.