The Philippines’ National Defense Department has purchased eight Bell Helicopter-built choppers under a memorandum of understanding with Canadian Commercial Corp. as the country seeks to modernize its helicopter fleet.Textron‘s Bell Helicopter will work to configure five of the 412EP helicopters for combat and relief operations while the remaining 412s will be built for transporting government officials, Textron said Wednesday.
C.M. Hwang, managing director of Bell Helicopter’s Asia Pacific region, said the company intends for the helicopter to help the Philippine DND fulfill its missions.
“We are looking forward to the delivery of the first three aircraft in time for the Philippines to host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in 2015,†said Fernando Manalo, undersecretary of the Philippine DND.
The choppers feature a dual digital automatic flight control system, an instrumental flight rules option and a cabin able to accommodate 14 passengers and one crew member.
