Bell AH-1Z Vipers for Nigeria Now in Production, Due by Early 2029

Nigeria’s air chief signed the frame of the first of 12 AH-1Z Vipers in Texas, as a $455 million U.S. deal to modernize Nigeria’s attack helicopter fleet moves from paperwork to the factory floor.

Bell has started building the first of 12 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters for the Nigerian Air Force, and a delegation led by Nigeria’s air chief signed the aircraft’s frame Wednesday at the company’s Texas plant.

Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, Nigeria’s chief of the air staff, headed the group that viewed the production line at Bell’s Amarillo Assembly Center, where the helicopter maker assembles its H-1 family of military aircraft. Bell, a subsidiary of Textron Inc., projects that production of the aircraft will be completed in early 2029.

The ceremony moves Nigeria’s Viper purchase, arranged through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, from contracting and engineering into physical assembly. The Vipers will join a Nigerian Air Force fleet that includes 15 Russian-built Mil Mi-24 and Mi-35 assault helicopters, with 18 more on order, according to aviation analytics company Cirium.

Nigeria’s military has for years fought extremist groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP, in the country’s northeast.

“The Bell AH-1Z Viper will play an important role in strengthening our counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations and enhancing our ability to protect the citizens of Nigeria,” said Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, a Nigerian Air Force spokesperson.

“We are pleased with the Viper’s advanced capabilities and interoperability and look forward to its induction as a key platform in our attack helicopter fleet,” Ejodame said.

Scott Sims, Bell’s H-1 program director, called the event a milestone in AH-1Z production.

“The beam of the first production Viper for Nigeria will forever carry the names, hopes, and commitment of those who brought this aircraft to life,” Sims said in a Bell statement marking the milestone.

“Today also signifies the dedication of thousands of Bell and Team Viper employees around the world who are proud to support this important international partner,” he said.

U.S. officials at the event included Col. Jason Duke, program manager for Naval Air Systems Command’s H-1 Light/Attack Helicopter Program Office, known as PMA-276.

From Contract to Assembly Line

The State Department approved the sale in April 2022 at an estimated value of nearly $1 billion. Naval Air Systems Command then awarded Bell a $455 million undefinitized contract for the 12 helicopters in March 2024. An undefinitized contract lets work begin before final terms and pricing are settled.

The firm-fixed-price contract covers building and assembling the aircraft, along with engineering, program management and long-term logistics support. It also funds engineering work to manage parts obsolescence over the helicopters’ service lives.

Federal contracting data compiled by HigherGov show the award has since been amended to about $456.3 million. The contract’s potential end date moved from July 31, 2028, to March 31, 2029, consistent with Bell’s early 2029 projection. About $82.3 million was obligated when the contract was first awarded.

Separately, the Defense Department awarded Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. a contract modification in December 2023 to produce 32 H-1 technical refresh mission computers for the Nigerian fleet.

Human Rights Scrutiny

The sale drew close attention from Congress before it moved ahead. In 2021, the top Democrat and top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held up the proposed helicopter sale over concerns about the Nigerian government’s human rights record, Foreign Policy reported.

In a May 2024 report required by National Security Memorandum 20, a directive President Joe Biden issued that February, the State Department said assurances from Nigeria and other recipients were “credible and reliable” enough for U.S. weapons transfers to continue. The approved package also set aside $25 million to help Nigeria’s armed forces develop targeting processes that comply with international humanitarian law, according to the arms sales notification.

Nigeria’s military has rejected rights groups’ findings of abuses, saying its personnel operate within international laws of armed conflict and have mechanisms to address proven misconduct.

Groundwork in California and Abuja

A Nigerian delegation traveled to the United States June 9-13, 2025, for a program management review. At Marine Aircraft Group 39 at Camp Pendleton, California, Marines from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39 walked the visitors through how active AH-1Z squadrons fly and maintain the aircraft.

“The acquisition of the AH-1Z Viper helicopters will significantly enhance the Nigerian Air Force’s combat effectiveness, operational efficiency, and mission readiness,” Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar, then Nigeria’s chief of the air staff, said during that visit, according to Naval Air Systems Command. Aneke succeeded Abubakar in 2025.

In February 2026, a PMA-276 team led by Robert Galan held three days of meetings at Nigerian Air Force headquarters in Abuja. The U.S. delegation commended the service’s preparations, including the facilities where the helicopters will be based, the Nigerian Air Force said in a statement.

What the Viper Brings

The AH-1Z is built for austere, high-tempo operations. Its four-blade, hingeless, bearingless composite main rotor has 75% fewer parts than older articulated designs, which improves ballistic survivability and cuts maintenance. It has a 10,000-flight-hour airframe, and Bell says 85% of its components are shared with the UH-1Y Venom utility helicopter.

Two General Electric T700-GE-401C turboshaft engines power the aircraft, according to a federal arms sales notification. Bell lists its cruise speed at 139 knots and its maximum speed at 200 knots.

The nose-mounted Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-30 Target Sight System combines a forward-looking infrared sensor, a low-light color television camera and a laser designator. Lockheed Martin says the system lets crews identify and strike targets from long standoff ranges at night and in poor weather.

The Viper carries a 20 mm M197 Gatling cannon in a chin turret. Its stub wings can hold up to 16 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles or pods of laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System rockets, and its wingtip stations can carry AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

Self-protection gear includes the AN/AAR-47 missile and laser warning system, the AN/ALE-47 flare and chaff dispenser and the AN/APR-39 radar warning receiver. Energy-attenuating seats, self-sealing fuel tanks and an exhaust heat suppression system add to the aircraft’s survivability.

A Busy Line and a Broader Buildup

In mid-2027, the Amarillo plant is scheduled to begin Structural and Power Improvements for NextGen Effects, or SPINE, upgrades on up to 49 U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft.

The Marine Corps bought 189 Vipers before completing its program of record in 2022. Bahrain received 12 AH-1Zs in 2022 and 2023, and the Czech Republic bought four Vipers and eight Venoms and received six more Vipers and two Venoms from U.S. Marine Corps stocks to replace Soviet-era equipment. Ukraine has expressed interest in both types, and Bell Textron has established an entity there to explore industrial cooperation.

Not every export has gone through. A planned AH-1Z sale to Pakistan stalled, and those helicopters were never delivered after the U.S. suspended security assistance to Islamabad in 2018.

The Vipers are one part of a wider Nigerian modernization effort. The country ordered six T129 ATAK attack helicopters from Turkish Aerospace, and the Nigerian Army Aviation Corps contracted MD Helicopters for 12 MD 530F Cayuse Warrior Plus armed scouts. The air force also flies 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft bought from the U.S. in a $500 million deal, based at Kainji Air Base after $38 million in upgrades managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is also adding 24 Leonardo M-346 jets from Italy.