Without making waves, the helicopter manufacturer Bell Textron is centralizing its commercial engineering activities in Mirabel – formerly shared on both sides of the border. By the way, this factory located in the Laurentians is reaping the fruits of a major contract won by the conglomerate from the American army last year.
“Everything will be centralized in Mirabel, it’s hyperpositive,” said Steeve Lavoie, president of Bell Textron Canada, in an interview with La Presse.
Met at the CANSEC defense fair last week in Ottawa, the manager gave an update, with his first director of global fleet services, Marc Bigaouette, on the activities of Bell Textron Canada, the Canadian entity of the multinational based in Fort Worth, Texas.
The contract behind this transfer of activities from the United States to Quebec is the one for the replacement of Black Hawk and Apache military helicopters south of the border. Last December, the U.S. military settled on Bell Textron’s V-280, a tiltrotor aircraft, in a deal that could reach up to $1.4 billion.
In Quebec, this means that about fifty engineering positions are currently available at the plant located along Highway 15, in the northern suburbs of Montreal. These new hires will join the team of some 350 engineers currently in Mirabel.
“Previously, commercial engineering was done partially in Mirabel and in the United States,” explains Mr. Lavoie. In the United States, they need resources in the defense sector. The commercial is therefore coming to our side. It’s really positive, what’s taking place. We are going to have growth on this side [engineering]. »
Last year, the manufacturer of the Bell 412, 407, 429 and 505 civil helicopters hired more than 400 people, which allowed its workforce to cross the bar of 1,450 employees. With an expansion of the engineering team, the growth in the number of workers is set to continue.
At the same time as this project, Bell Textron Canada is progressing in the rejuvenation of the 85 CH-146 Griffons of the Royal Canadian Air Force, an 800 million project led by the company. MM. Lavoie and Bigaouette are now able to confirm that two Quebec actors, Pratt
The CH-146 Griffon is a variant of the civilian Bell 412EP model. One hundred aircraft were delivered to National Defense between 1995 and 1997. These helicopters are used in tactical transport missions, emergency response and search and rescue operations. They do not perform combat missions.
“CMC is our cockpit partner, while Pratt
According to our information, the work that will be carried out by these two companies based in Quebec should represent approximately 20% of the value of the project. Bell Textron Canada acts as prime contractor. The company must modify the first nine aircraft in the fleet in order to have an idea of the steps that will have to be followed by the selected subcontractors.
Three CH-146s are currently at the Mirabel plant. They will be practically completely disassembled as part of the upgrade.
“The first aircraft is expected to fly, most likely in the first quarter [of 2024],” said Bell Textron Canada’s head of global fleet services. The program is progressing well. We are moving forward and we are planning the steps that will follow. »
This $800 million project will also have spin-offs elsewhere in the country. On April 26, the Canadian subsidiary of the multinational announced that it had selected Alpine Aerotech (British Columbia) and Heli-One Canada (British Columbia and Alberta) as suppliers.
