US Army to trim Black Hawk helicopter fleet

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Military is readying to trim its UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter fleet by practically 8% because it prepares to subject a alternative, Maj. Gen. Mac McCurry, the Military’s Aviation Middle of Excellence commander, instructed Protection Information in a current interview.

The service plans to chop roughly 157 Black Hawks, or 7.5% of its whole utility fleet, from its active-duty part. McCurry stated the transfer is meant to assist the Military optimize its present fleet whereas making room within the finances for the Black Hawk’s alternative, the Future Lengthy-Vary Assault Plane, or FLRAA, that can start fielding within the early 2030s.

A yr in the past, the Military selected Textron-Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor plane to exchange the 40-year-old Sikorsky-manufactured UH-60. The Military additionally has plans to exchange the Boeing-made AH-64 Apache assault helicopter with the Future Assault Reconnaissance Plane. Two firms are constructing aggressive demonstrator plane.

“It’s actually about balancing the present readiness with the procurement and fielding sooner or later,” McCurry stated. “As we checked out our utility fleet particularly, we had grown that fleet since early within the 2000s by over 300 plane.”

That progress stored tempo with the Military’s larger finish power throughout steady rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Black Hawk fleet within the fiscal 2004 timeframe consisted of 1,806 plane, however rose to 2,135 plane throughout counterinsurgency operations.

At present, with a smaller pressure, the service doesn’t have to preserve all of these helicopters in service, he stated. The overall will now drop to 1,978 plane.

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The Military will solely be eradicating the oldest plane — a number of Alpha fashions and the remaining Lima fashions — from the lively part. These plane won’t come from models actively deploying or making ready to deploy, however from what the service calls “operational readiness floats,” McCurry stated.

By concentrating on these plane, he added, the service reduces the general fleet age, reducing long-term upkeep necessities, together with mitigating “some important components challenges.”

The Military plans to promote the divested Black Hawks both by way of Overseas Army Gross sales transactions or by way of an change and gross sales program, McCurry stated. Every plane is predicted to fetch roughly $2 million.

When the plane will probably be taken out of the fleet isn’t but decided, McCurry stated. Fleet managers between Program Govt Workplace Aviation and Military Aviation and Missile Command will assess the well being of the fleet to find out which plane ought to transfer and when.

The Military stays dedicated to upgrading its Mike-model Black Hawks, the newest variant, McCurry stated.

The service can also be offering Victor fashions to the Military Nationwide Guard. Victor fashions are upgraded Lima-model helicopters with digital cockpits similar to the Mike mannequin.

Black Hawks are additionally anticipated to get model new engines by way of the Improved Turbine Engine Program, however the effort has been delayed resulting from technical and provide chain points throughout engine growth, testing and early manufacturing phases.

In the meantime, the Military is planning to look at the dimensions of the Boeing-manufactured CH-47 Chinook cargo fleet to make sure it additionally matches the service’s pressure construction and finish power, McCurry stated.

AH-64 Apache assault helicopters won’t get the identical assessment right now, he added, as a result of “now we have remained in need of AH-64s with some current losses and … we’re nonetheless brief AH-64s.”