Rio De Janeiro State Government Contracts for new Bell Huey II Helicopter

Released on Sunday, February 24, 2008

HAI, Houston, Texas, (2008) -- Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced the Rio De Janeiro State Government contracted for a new Bell Huey II® helicopter to be operated by the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police. A long-time operator of single-light helicopters, the Rio Police had a requirement for a larger, more powerful platform for use in the more dangerous missions they routinely perform in some of Rio's notorious crime-ridden slums against powerful and well-armed drug trafficking gangs.

Eric Wasson, Bell's regional sales manager for Brazil stated, "Bell is honored by the Rio Civil Police's selection of the Huey II platform to meet the demands of their extremely challenging operational environment. We welcome them to Bell's global family of operators and place our industry-leading Product Support network at their disposal."

In evaluating the options offered by various helicopter manufacturers, the Bell Huey II began to stand out from the rest for its favorable cost vs. benefits formula. Operational capabilities, doctrines, and maintenance issues were discussed with several operators and the Rio Civil Police came away convinced that the Huey II would meet their requirements.

Upon its delivery, the Rio Civil Police will receive training in a Huey II flight simulator at Bell's Customer Training Academy in Fort Worth, TX and complete their practical flight training at USH's facilities in Ozark, Alabama, near Fort Rucker, the US Army's primary rotary wing training base.