Bell handout
Bell's Huey II
Bell Textron announced on Tuesday the delivery of four Bell Huey II aircraft to the Armed Forces of Bosnia-Herzegovina earlier this month. The aircraft are part of a foreign military sale signed in December 2019.
The Huey II worldwide fleet of more than 300 aircraft have a combined 1.2 million flight hours. Before delivery, members of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Air Force and Air Defense Brigade completed adaptation training at the Bell Training Academy in Fort Worth.
“We are very pleased and honored to be able to deliver these very versatile helicopters to the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.” says Clay Bridges, Bell regional sales manager, in a statement. “The Huey IIs will enhance Bosnia and Herzegovina’s ability to perform search and rescue, firefighting, and many other missions. Here and throughout the region, we are seeing the need for helicopters grow.”
Additionally, Bell’s global customer support network, with more than 100 authorized customer service facilities in 34 countries, provides customers with the largest support network in the industry.
Bosnia-Herzegovina was born out of armed conflict after the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. In 1995, Bosnians and Croats left the war with Serbia through an agreement signed in Dayton, Ohio, which created the joint Bosnian-Croat Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Dayton Agreement retained Bosnia and Herzegovina's international boundaries and created a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government.
The U.S. supported the creation of the Bosnian armed forces in 2005, which was the nation's first unified, ethnically-integrated force. In 2006, Bosnia-Herzegovina began a program of defense reforms and joined the NATO Partnership for Peace. Since then, the country has increased its cooperation with the U.S. and allies.
Huey II is an upgraded version of Bell UH-1H multimission, medium-lift helicopter. The helicopter can be configured for a variety of missions, including troop transport, cargo, search-and-rescue, special operations, disaster response, and firefighting.
The Huey II is operated by one or two pilots and can accommodate up to 14 personnel. The crew section is equipped with jettisonable doors and wide windscreens. The wide sliding doors of the cabin facilitate easy loading and unloading of cargo. Four large windows fitted to the cabin provide good visibility.