Bell reports slight dip in helicopter deliveries for Q2

Bell's segment profit rose by $17 million to $82 million, largely due to performance improvements and a reduction in research and development costs. The company's backlog at the end of the quarter stood at $4.2 billion.

During an earnings call on Thursday, Scott Donnelly, chairman and CEO of parent company Textron, highlighted significant progress in Bell’s military programs. “Bell completed the FLRAA preliminary design review and was downselected as one of two companies for the next phase of the DARPA Speed and Runway Independent Technologies [SPRINT] X-Plane program to create a prototype high-speed vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for the U.S. military.”

When asked about supply-chain issues, Donnelly acknowledged ongoing challenges for both Textron Aviation and Bell. “We have a number of deliveries that we missed,” he remarked about Bell. “We were missing some key components, but we're working with those suppliers. We're continuing to have to work our way around some late deliveries of parts coming in.”

Regarding Bell's military portfolio outside of FLRAA, Donnelly commented, “We did add the H-1s from Nigeria, so that's 12 aircraft; we're able to start ramping that here this year. We saw some benefit of that in the quarter. V-22 production is still going along—the five aircraft that were in FY 2024 have now been added.

“I think there's work going on in the fiscal year 2025 budget and beyond that will provide some upgrade opportunities on V-22 as well as H-1. I do think the production unit volumes will continue to ramp down. We will see some good flow of upgrade and modernization efforts on both the H-1 and the V-22 lines.”

Donnelly also addressed opportunities in the European defense market which has seen increased budget allocations. “We have a number of sales campaigns in Europe. [Although] it hasn’t been a huge part of our business in the past as you look at foreign military sales opportunities—things like the FLRAA program—clearly that's a big part of where the army is focused: looking at partner countries around the world.”