MD Helicopters (MDH) started a Latin American demonstration sales tour with the MD600 and MD902 Explorer at FIDAE, amid expectations of new civil, military and para-military sales throughout the region.
Both types were demonstrated to Chilean naval and air force units and local law enforcement agencies to meet upcoming requirements for search and rescue and other patrol requirements. The aircraft were due to fly to Argentina and Brazil before returning to the USA.
The Arizona-based company, which took over the commercial and utility helicopter business of Boeing last year, is increasingly bullish about its Latin American prospects following the delivery of the first Explorers, armed with 70mm rocket pods and 0.50in General Dynamics Gatling guns, to the Mexican navy for anti-drug operations. Six were expected to be in service by mid-April, with two more to follow by year-end, and a further two next year.
The US Coast Guard has leased two Explorers for an identical role as part of an evaluation programme called Operation New Frontier. MD Helicopters, which is competing for an expected requirement for 10 helicopters, says the Explorers were "instrumental" in the capture of six boats carrying $120 million worth of illegal drugs. Bell Helicopter Textron is competing with a navalised version of the 412, Eurocopter is offering an improved AS365 Dauphin while Sikorsky is bidding with the SH-60.
Other possibilities include Columbia, where recent US Government approval for $2.6 billion in anti-drug aid money has sparked potential for Explorer sales. MDH is also supplying 10 MD530Fs ordered by the Colombian police as a result of the funding award. Sikorsky is supplying extra H-60s as part of the same programme.
Explorer customers in Venezuela, where three original MD900s are based with three MD600Ns, have shown "a lot of interest" in the improved MD902, and have taken delivery positions next year, says the company.
Source: Flight International
