Bell brings 505 helicopter, training expertise to army's Flight School Next programme

The Bell 505 single-engine helicopter. Bell is offering the helicopter as part of its package for the US Army's Flight School Next programme. (Bell)

Bell is bringing its expertise in training helicopter pilots and its 505 helicopter to the US Army's Flight School Next programme, which aims to overhaul basic helicopter pilot training.

The programme calls for “solutions that include a whole turnkey package. The aircraft, the instructor pilots, maintenance, admin[istrative] support, simulation, if you want to bring simulation as part of your solution”, Matthew Dorram, capture lead for Flight School Next for Bell, told Janes on 14 October at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington, DC.

“The problem set that the army's trying to solve is threefold,” he said. “First and foremost, they want … a better trained army aviator … so they're going to be looking for a programme that produces the highest-quality army aviator,” according to Dorram.

Another goal is to save money compared with the current programme, which comprises “four different contracts and an army-owned aircraft”, he said.

“Lastly, they want to innovate, and they want to modernise the whole training programme at Fort Rucker [Alabama]” to take advantage of the latest in learning technology, Dorram said.

Bell's solution

Bell has been “developing our solution for well over two years”, Dorram said, adding that the company saw it as an emerging opportunity before the project was launched in 2024.

“Bell's intent here is to lead a premiere team of companies, and we're going to leverage everybody's strengths within our team to bring the army the most high-quality, robust flight training programme,” he said.