First Bell 429 helicopter accepted for Navy pilot skills program

Raytheon Australia has announced the beginning of acceptance activities of its first of three Bell 429 helicopters to be utilised under the Royal Australian Navy’s Retention and Motivation program.

The RMI program provides the Navy with supported aircraft to allow junior qualified aircrew to consolidate and enhance their skills prior to flying operational helicopters.

Under the $26 million four-year contract signed in September last year, Raytheon Australia will provide the Navy with three new Bell 429 helicopters for 1500 tasking hours a year.

Raytheon Australia’s managing director Michael Ward said Raytheon executives would travel to the United States for the formal acceptance of the first aircraft by the company which would then be flown to Australia in the subsequent weeks.

In October, a RAN/Raytheon project team conducted a series of inspections to ensure the three helicopters were being built to conform to the contracted specifications.

The new Bell 429 helicopter was chosen by Raytheon Australia after an extensive trade study and will replace the current three A109E aircraft provided by the company under its original RMI contract.