Argentina’s Ministry of Defense has awarded Bell Textron Canada a contract for the purchase of six Bell 407GXi helicopters for the Argentinean Air Force.
The deal is a government-to-government contract between the Ministry of Defense of Argentina and the Canadian Commercial Corporation.
With their capability to operate in high mountains, the Argentinean Air Force and Army will utilize the 407GXi helicopters for search and rescue missions, ensuring assistance in challenging terrains.
As part of the armed forces capacity recovery plan, a contract was signed last December. Lieutenant General Juan Martìn Paleo and a representative from the Canadian Commercial Corporation were the signatories, and the contract has since been endorsed by Minister Taiana and Chief of Staff Juan Luis Manzur.
“The Bell 407GXi is a proven platform in high-altitude environments and will be pivotal to Argentina’s Military Search and Rescue operations,” said John Ramos, managing director, Latin America. “All six Bell 407GXis will be outfitted in a utility configuration critical to rescue missions in Argentina’s mountainous terrain.”
“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 helicopter is equipped with the Garmin G1000H integrated avionics suite, featuring 10.4-inch high-definition LCD screens and primary flight displays (PFDs). It offers enhanced situational awareness and reduced pilot workload.
The cockpit includes hyperspectral imaging system (HSI) mapping technology, a traffic information system (TIS), a helicopter terrain avoidance warning system (HTAWS), and Garmin helicopter synthetic vision technology (HSVT).
Powered by a Rolls-Royce 250-C47E/4 engine, it has a maximum cruise speed of 246 km/h, a range of 624 km, and a maximum endurance of four hours.
