The American manufacturer Bell Helicopters has announced that he wanted to invest in the Ukrainian defense industry and start the production of helicopters in the country, according to what Ukrainian Minister of Economy Oleksiy Sobev.
The local government has shown its willingness to support the project with mechanisms aimed at attracting foreign investments. The plan is currently in the phase of technical consultations and feasibility studies.
The proposal is not entirely new: in the past there had already been talk of the local production of the civil version of the UH-1 helicopter, without the project being carried out. From the moment of the Russian invasion in 2022, Bell intensified the offer of his models for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In July 2024, during the Farnborough Airshow, the company officially proposed the Bell 407m, a militarized version of its multi -row helicopter.
In addition, Kiev has requested the supply of AH-1Z VIper attack helicopters for 2022 as part of the United States military assistance package.
There are still no concrete details on Bell’s next steps in Ukraine, but the company is expected to initially focus its efforts on the military sector, before exploring the civil market.
Source: Militarnyi | Photo: x @bellflight | This content was created with the help of the AI and was reviewed by the editorial team
