Textron in $60 mln helicopter deal for Iraq

Textron Inc (TXT.N) has received a $60.3 million U.S. Army contract to supply 24 Bell Armed 407 helicopters to Iraq, with an option for 26 more, the U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday.The helicopters are part of a weapons package unveiled last December to boost the Iraqi Air Force as U.S. armed forces prepare to leave Iraq by the end of 2011. The Army is middleman under the Pentagon's Foreign Military Sales program.The initial 24 helicopters are to be produced over 27 months and the others within another 13 months if the option is exercised, the Pentagon's daily contract digest said.Work is to be performed in Alliance, Texas, (55 percent ) and Mirabel, Quebec, (45 percent) with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2012, the Defense Department said.

Posted in: Helicopter,Iraq