September 28 (SeeNews) - U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer Bell Textron has delivered the first of two Bell 505 helicopters to Montenegro Air Force, which will be used to train new military pilots, the company said on Monday.
The delivery of the helicopter occurred in July at Bell Prague and the second aircraft is expected to be delivered in January 2021, Bell Textron said in an e-mailed statement.
"The Bell 505 is renowned for delivering best-in-class value to our customers. Since the students already have knowledge of menu-driven avionics platforms, the 505s advanced avionics leads to better prepared pilots," the managing director of Europe and Russia of Bell Textron, Duncan Van De Velde, said.
Bell provided training for three pilots with HeliDeal, a certified training facility for 505 pilot training located in southern France, the company noted.
Montenegro's defence ministry said in June it signed a 3.3 million euro ($3.8 million) agreement with the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) for the delivery of two Bell 505s produced by Bell Textron at its facilities in Mirabel, Quebec.
Montenegro received in 2018 two Bell 412 EPI helicopters under a 30 million euro agreement with CCC, a Canadian federal corporation mandated to facilitate the growth of international trade by helping Canadian exporters gain access to foreign government procurement opportunities.
($ = 0.858829 euro)