Guatemalan military acquires new Bell 429

Following a foreign military sale executed by the US Army Security Assistance Command, the Guatemalan Air Force has taken delivery of a Bell 429 GlobalRanger.

The new helicopter is intended to boost Guatemala’s response to natural disasters and other humanitarian crises, according to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), an information service operated by the US Department of Defense.

“This helicopter will be used for humanitarian assistance including search and rescue, delivery of relief supplies, and reconnaissance,” Ronald McCall II, USASAC Country Program Manager for Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, Belize and Honduras, told DVIDS. “They will be better able to support interagency efforts following floods, earthquakes, infrastructure collapses, volcano eruptions, landslides, and land and air accidents.”

McCall added that the aircraft would also be able to support firefighting missions in the Maya Biosphere and other arid regions, troop insertion and extraction, overwatch during operations, and reconnaissance in areas of high incidence of drug trafficking, organized crime and other national security areas of interest.

Further foreign military sales cases are being developed to include spare parts and modifications for the Bell 429 and the purchase of two Bell 407s, added McCall.

In December 2022, the Guatemalan Air Force took delivery of two Subaru Bell 412EPX helicopters to support its disaster response and humanitarian missions.