Bell Helicopter photo.
Fort Worth, TX (January 5, 2026). – Bell Helicopter, a Textron company, has been selected to continue in the competition for the U.S. Army’s Flight School Next program with the Bell 505 single-engine helicopter. As part of this selection, Bell and other industry teammates will advance to the second phase of the Army competition.
“We are honored to move forward in the Army’s Flight School Next program,” said Jeffrey Schloesser, senior vice president of strategic pursuits at Bell Helicopter. “With Bell’s extensive history in military flight training, the proven Bell 505, and the expertise of our teammates, we are confident that our turnkey solution will support the Army in developing the next generation of Aviation Warfighters.”
Bell has a rich history with the U.S. Army’s flight training program going back over 70 years. The H-13 Sioux (a version of Bell 47) served as the Army’s first primary trainer, followed by the UH-1H Huey and the TH-57 Sea Ranger (based on Bell 206). The Bell 505 is the modern-day incarnation of its predecessors, building on their legacy of high-performance and reliability.
As Bell Helicopter moves forward in the competition for Flight School Next, the team brings a turnkey solution leveraging the Bell 505, the highly regarded Bell Training Academy (BTA), and modern training technology. The team is prepared to enter the next phase of Flight School Next and demonstrate how Bell’s solution will effectively enable the Army to transform their student pilots into the next generation of Aviation Warfighters.
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During the advanced flight training phase of a two-year-long flight school course, future Coast Guard pilots train for 7-8 months in the TH-57, learning aircraft systems and avionics, routine and emergency procedures, flight planning, risk management techniques, and earning their instrument rating, which allows them to fly in clouds and restricted visibility.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Karlton Rebenstorf.
The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
