Royal Thai Army Buying Eight Purpose-Built Helos

Boeing announced that the first of eight AH-6 Little Bird light attack helicopters intended for the Royal Thai Army completed a successful first flight on August 22.

The flight was conducted at Boeing’s Mesa, Arizona, helicopter manufacturing and testing facility.

Boeing was awarded a contract through the Foreign Military Sales program of the U.S. Department of Defense for and order of eight Little Birds in 2022. The contract includes spares, training devices, support equipment, and technical publications.

Following completion and delivery of the fleet, Boeing will train the Royal Thai Army pilots at its Mesa site and also at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground. The pilots will learn to fly the Little Bird and how to take advantage of all of its versatile mission capabilities.

“With its superior performance and flexible, easily configurable mission equipment, the Little Bird packs enormous versatility into a small, combat-proven package to get the job done,” said Christina Upah, vice president of Attack Helicopter Programs and senior Boeing Mesa site executive. “We are proud to partner with the U.S. Army to provide Thailand with these critical defense capabilities, and we look forward to supporting training for the first Thai Little Bird pilots in the near future.”

FMI:  boeing.mediaroom.com/