The demand for military and low-cost helicopters is growing worldwide. To respond to these requests and challenge competitors, including the new players who have entered the global market, the US aircraft manufacturer Bell Textron has studied new solutions to offer a balance between supply and demand, which overcome the obstacles related to the sale of military products abroad. 

"Because many countries don't have the budget to afford a military helicopter like the Boeing AH-64 Apache or Bell AH-1Z Viper, states are demanding more affordable platforms", said Douglas Wolfe, Bell's director of international sales and strategy, noting that for this reason the company offers militarized commercial helicopters to some customers with more limited budgets. 

An example of this solution is the Bell 429 helicopter in its configuration for the police, recently on display at the "Paris Air Show 2023" and the same goes for the Bell 412. These are aircraft that can be militarized, supplementing the armaments (rockets, missiles, machine guns) on request. They are civil modular platforms that become, with few modifications, patrol and combat helicopters and special missions. 

The US military is still the company's "main client", but "the Russian war in Ukraine has really increased everyone's awareness and interest in self-defense", especially in the Middle East, so "these platforms are gaining considerable worldwide interest", concluded Wolfe.