Final USMC Viper delivered
In a ceremony at the Amarillo Assembly Center (TX), Bell Textron Inc. celebrated the delivery of the 189th Bell AH-1Z Viper to the US Marine Corps, completing the Programme of Record (POR) for the latest version of the H-1 platform.
The AH-1Z is a twin-engine attack helicopter, based on the AH-1W SuperCobra. It was developed during the 1990s and 2000s as a part of the H-1 upgrade programme on behalf of the USMC. It is essentially a modernisation of the service's existing AH-1Ws, and was originally intended to be a rebuild programme before subsequent orders were made for new-build helicopters instead.
The AH-1Z and Bell UH-1Y Venom utility helicopter share a common tailboom, engines, rotor system, drivetrain, avionics architecture, software, controls and displays for over 84% identical components. On 8 December 2000, the AH-1Z conducted its maiden flight; low-rate initial production was launched in October 2003.
The UH-1Y Venom is also part of the H-1 POR and Bell completed the UH-1Y POR of 160 helicopters in 2018. The combined POR is 349 helicopters.
The H-1 production line is still active in support of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to approved US allies. Bell continues to produce Vipers for the Kingdom of Bahrain and will manufacture eight UH-1Ys and four AH-1Zs for the Czech Republic in 2023.
The AH-1Z Viper is operated by the following squadrons within the USMC:
Photo by Nico van der Steen (Scramble Archive)