Bell Textron Canada partners with Alpine Aerotech and Heli-One to extend life of CH-146 Griffon fleet

Bell Textron Canada awarded subcontracts to Alpine Aerotech LP and Heli-One Canada ULC to support the Canadian Armed Forces in the modernization of its CH-146 Griffon aircraft fleet. As the original manufacturer and intellectual property owner of the CH-146 Griffon helicopters, Bell was awarded the contract to extend the life of the 85-helicopter fleet in May 2022 by Public Services and Procurement Canada. As part of the contract, Bell will modify the first nine aircraft. Subsequent aircraft will be modified by the subcontractors who have been rigorously selected through a fair, open and transparent competition. 

Steeve Lavoie, president of Bell Textron Canada, commented: "I am pleased to announce the award of two important subcontracts to Alpine Aerotech and Heli-One. These contracts will support job creation in Canada and demonstrate once again the importance and quality of our Canadian companies in the aerospace sector. We are proud to join forces with these dedicated and established rotorcraft support entities driven by excellence to support the Canadian Armed Forces and our men and women in uniform throughout the Griffon missions here and abroad." 

Jeff Denomme, president of Alpine Aerotech, said: “On behalf of the entire Alpine Aerotech team, we are extremely pleased to be continuing our longstanding relationship to support both Bell and the Department of National Defense with the upcoming CH146 Griffon Mk II (GLLE) implementation. We wish to congratulate Heli-One as being also selected to support the implementation and look forward to working together to facilitate a successful program for all stakeholders.”

“Heli-One is thrilled to be selected by Bell as a supplier for the Griffon Life Limited Extension (GLLE) modification embodiments. The CH-146 Griffon is used as a multi-purpose utility helicopter by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is essential to operations both at home and overseas. We are extremely excited for the opportunity to work with Bell to upgrade the CH-146 Griffon and keep the fleet flying well into the future,” states Carolyn Forsyth, general manager – sales, Commercial and Customer Support at Heli-One.