Helicopter for Japan - Old wrapping with new interior and engines

Big Win for Bell and Fuji in Japan

by Mark Huber and Chris Pocock

 - July 23, 2015, 1:08 PM

An artist's impression of a Bell 412EPI in Japanese military markings, flying over Tokyo. (Image: Bell)

In a deal potentially worth $3.2 billion, the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) has selected a Bell-Fuji team to replace the fleet of 130 Bell-Fuji UH-1Js currently operated by Japan's Ground Self-Defense Forces (JGSDF). The new helicopter, currently dubbed the UH-X, will be a modified version of the civil Bell 412EPI. The losing contender was a partnership between Kawasaki and Airbus Helicopters that offered the latter’s recently launched H160.

The MoD said that the Bell-Fuji proposal scored more points in the overall evaluation, which considered such factors as development feasibility; performance; logistical support; life-cycle costs; and delivery timescale. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2021. The MoD said that the new helicopter will be available for sale abroad, taking advantage of last year’s change in Japanese policy that relaxed the country's long-standing ban on military equipment exports.  Bell has collaborated with Fuji on various projects over the last 55 years including the UH-1J, a Japanese modification of the UH-1H that included an uprated Allison T53 engine (1,800 shp); vibration reduction; IR countermeasures; and more recent upgrades including NVG-compatible cockpits. The lastUH-1J was delivered in 2012.

Introduced in 2013, the twin-engine 412EPI features a glass cockpit based on the Bell BasiX flight deck. The412EPI is certified for single-pilot IFR with three-axis or optional four-axis stability and control augmentation and a coupled flight director. It also has more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T-9 Twin-Pac engines (1,856 shp at takeoff power) and the BLR Strake and FastFin System, which improves high/hot payload capacity by up to 1,410 pounds.