The United States has approved a possible $800 million Foreign Military Sale to Iraq covering Bell helicopters, weapons, sensors, support equipment and training, but the notification does not identify how many helicopters Iraq would receive. The approval authorizes a potential sale rather than a completed contract, and the final quantity, configuration and cost could change as the proposal moves through the Foreign Military Sales process, Defense News reported.
The proposed package includes GAU-19 three-barrel machine gun launchers and M260 seven-tube launchers for 2.75-inch rockets. It also lists L-3 Wescam MX-15HDI electro-optical/infrared sensors and AN/AAR-60 Block 2 missile launch detection systems.
The State Department said the sale would strengthen Iraq’s rotary-wing transport, reconnaissance and air-to-surface targeting capabilities and improve its ability to address current and future threats. The notification does not specify how the listed weapons, sensors and missile launch detection systems would be distributed among the proposed helicopters or identify a final aircraft configuration.
The package extends beyond aircraft and weapons. It includes Very High Frequency radios, spare parts, ground support equipment, technical publications and technical data. Iraq’s pilots and maintenance personnel would receive new-equipment training. U.S. government and contractor personnel would provide engineering, technical and logistics support connected to the proposed sale.
Bell-Textron, based in Fort Worth, Texas, would serve as the principal contractor. The notification describes the proposed transaction as supporting U.S. foreign policy and national security interests by helping improve the security of a “strategic partner.”
The proposed transaction follows earlier U.S.-Iraqi efforts to modernize Iraq’s military helicopter fleet. A 2026 Department of Defense Office of Inspector General report on Operation Inherent Resolve said Iraq’s Ministry of Defense had submitted Foreign Military Sales requests for four Bell 412EPXs and 16 Bell 412Ms to replace Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters. The report also said Iraq had requested 15 new Bell 407Ms to replace existing 407s in the light-attack role.
Those earlier figures should not be treated as the quantities in the newly approved possible sale. They came from the inspector general’s account of earlier requests, while the State Department’s current notification does not specify the number of helicopters sought. The earlier Bell 412M request also should not be assumed to describe the configuration of the new proposal.
The $800 million figure represents the estimated value of a possible package, not the price of a signed order for a confirmed number of aircraft. The final aircraft quantity, configuration and cost remain subject to change as the proposal moves through the Foreign Military Sales process. The approval therefore marks a U.S. authorization to proceed with consideration of the sale, rather than evidence that Iraq and Bell-Textron have completed a contract.
The notification groups aircraft procurement, weapons, sensing systems, communications, sustainment and personnel training under one possible sale. Its stated military objective is to support Iraq’s transport, reconnaissance and air-to-surface targeting capabilities and improve the country’s ability to address current and future threats. The proposed transaction’s final scope and terms remain unsettled pending the next stages of the Foreign Military Sales process.