After months of discussions and deliberation among multiple government agencies, the Nepal government has finally decided to accept six Bell helicopters offered by the US under a Foreign Military Financing grant.

The decision comes despite the Nepali Army’s preference for heavy-lift helicopters capable of transporting construction materials and disaster relief supplies to remote areas. The six helicopters are in addition to two Bell helicopters that Washington had previously pledged, bringing the total number of Bell helicopters committed by the US to eight.

During his visit to Nepal in August 2024, US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard R Verma had announced that the US intended to provide $100 million (Rs15 billion) to strengthen Nepal’s rotary-wing capabilities.

After extensive consultations, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, and the Nepali Army submitted a counter-proposal to the US in late April, seeking assistance more closely aligned with Nepal’s priorities and operational needs.

Instead of the Bell helicopters offered by Washington, Nepal requested aerial cranes or heavy-lift helicopters capable of transporting construction materials such as steel beams, concrete, wood, and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) units to remote parts of the country using external slings and hooks.

“The US proposal to provide six Bell helicopters to the Nepal government under its $100 million assistance package has been endorsed by the army,” said army spokesperson Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet.

The Nepali Army completed the required procedures and sent the proposal to the Ministry of Defence, he said.

The proposal to seek aerial cranes and heavy-left helicopters instead of what was offered by the US landed at the finance ministry because the US proposal was tied to foreign assistance. The ministry declined to give approval stating that any foreign support that comes in kind, not cash, should be decided by the ministries concerned, the defence ministry in this case. There were intense back to back talks and negotiations between finance and defence ministers over how to settle the issue, but the finance ministry ultimately threw the ball into the defense ministry’s court, according to two officials familiar with the development.

The US proposal was accepted after the removal of certain terms that carried national security-related connotations. “We approved the proposal after the defence ministry agreed to accept the helicopters,” said Basnet.

After US officials repeatedly raised the matter with the defence ministry and Army Headquarters in Kathmandu, army chief Ashok Sigdel held discussions with ministers and senior bureaucrats in recent weeks to explore a compromise that would align Nepal’s needs with US priorities.

The US side, according to the officials from different ministries, was adamant about its proposal to provide four single-engine and two double-engine helicopters equipped with firefighting engines.

As per the specification provided to the ministry, the US government has offered helicopters and twin-engine rotary-wing aircraft, particularly specialised drones, to support critical aerial firefighting through precision water/retardant drops, rapid crew insertion, and night operations.

The American government plans to deliver them in 2028. But Officials at the defense ministry and Nepali Army, however, are not convinced that the helicopters will be delivered on schedule. Helicopters that the US had promised to deliver in 2024 are now expected only in 2027, officials believe that the newly proposed helicopters are unlikely to land in Kathmandu before 2030.

Besides concerns about geopolitical balancing, as Nepal is increasingly seen as relying on US helicopters, the Nepali Army was also worried about the high costs of maintenance, fuel, spare parts procurement, and training.

The proposal to provide six helicopters comes in addition to five aircraft the US had earlier announced it would provide as grants. In August last year, the US delivered two new M28 Skytrucks to the Nepali Army through a $37 million Foreign Military Financing grant, expanding Nepal’s fleet to five.

The US had already provided two Skytrucks in 2019, while Nepal purchased one on its own. It provided two helicopters in September last year. During Verma’s visit in August

2024, the US embassy also revealed that Washington was ready to help the Nepali

Army in acquiring helicopters for disaster response.

Earlier, during then army chief Prabhu Ram Sharma’s visit to the US in 2022, the Nepali Army had requested US support for the procurement of two rotary-wing aircraft. These aircraft are small drones capable of vertical take-off and landing, autonomous hovering, slow cruising, high maneuverability, and have higher payload capacity compared to fixed-wing aircraft.

Verma had also confirmed during his visit that the US is providing two additional Bell helicopters to boost Nepal’s disaster response capabilities. Before that, the Nepali Army had planned to procure two helicopters from Russia, but the US quickly offered two Bell helicopters instead.