The Czech Republic will buy 12 military helicopters from a U.S. company, narrowing the field of possible suppliers, Deputy Defence Minister Jakub Landovsky said.

Mi-24 (Picture source: Air Recognition)

The contract, estimated at 12.5 billion crowns ($553 million), will now go to Bell Helicopter, a unit of Textron , or Lockheed Martin's Sikorski, the Pravo daily paper said.

"It is true that we did not have any large project with the United States for a long time," Landovsky said. "The helicopters are now on the table. And it is possible to say that we are in exclusive talks with the United States now about a purchase of new helicopters"

As part of the army modernization and compliance with NATO standards, the Czech Republic is planning to replace 30-35 helicopters Mi-24, Mi-8, and Mi-17, which are currently in use and almost have come out of use.