{"id":15015,"date":"2018-09-24T21:16:19","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T21:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/24\/the-air-force-picks-a-winner-for-its-huey-replacement-helicopter-contract\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:28:16","slug":"the-air-force-picks-a-winner-for-its-huey-replacement-helicopter-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/breaking-news\/2018\/09\/24\/the-air-force-picks-a-winner-for-its-huey-replacement-helicopter-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"The Air Force picks a winner for its Huey replacement helicopter contract"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In an upset that is likely to be protested, a Boeing\/Leonardo team has won the Air Force’s UH-1N replacement program, with a militarised AW139.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 In an upset, a Boeing-Leonardo team has won a $2.38 billion contract to manufacture a new batch of helicopters to replace the Air Force\u2019s UH-1N Huey<\/a> used to guard the service\u2019s nuclear missile silos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boeing and Leonardo\u2019s MH-139<\/a>, a militarized version of the commercial AW139 manufactured by Leonardo subsidiary AgustaWestland in Philadelphia, beat out Lockheed Martin Sikorsky and Sierra Nevada Corp., which both offered versions of the UH-60 Black Hawk \u2014 which some analysts saw as the service\u2019s aircraft of choice going into the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, the Sept. 24 contract announcement is a major victory for the Boeing-Leonardo team, which received an initial $375 million for the first four helicopters and the integration of military-specific items needed to bring the AW139 to the Air Force\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force touted the program of an example of cost savings, noting that the service was able to bring down the price of the program from its original $4.1 billion cost estimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Strong competition drove down costs for the program, resulting in $1.7 billion in savings to the taxpayer,\u201d Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force plans on buying 84 new helicopters over the course of the program, with the first aircraft being delivered in fiscal year 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re grateful for the Air Force\u2019s confidence in our MH-139 team,\u201d said David Koopersmith, vice president and general manager for Boeing\u2019s vertical lift business. \u201cThe MH-139 exceeds mission requirements, it\u2019s also ideal for VIP transport, and it offers the Air Force up to $1 billion in acquisition and lifecycle cost savings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at the Teal Group, said the win was, for Leonardo, \u201cthe U.S. helicopter market breakthrough they\u2019ve been waiting for\u201d and \u201ca solid endorsement of [Boeing\u2019s] plan to work with other airframe partners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that a winner has been declared, the biggest remaining question is whether the other competitors will protest the decision, a likely possibility given that the Huey replacement program is one of the few remaining ongoing aircraft contests planned by the Air Force for some time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the course of the competition, Sikorsky\u2019s HH-60U was seen as the frontrunner by analysts who pointed to the fact that the Air Force had initially sought to sole-source UH-60 Black Hawks to replace the UH-1N. The U-model was differentiated from the Army\u2019s Black Hawk by the addition of a rescue hoist and electro-optical sensor<\/a>, among other modifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are disappointed in the U.S. Air Force\u2019s decision but remain confident the HH-60U Black Hawk is the strongest, most capable solution for the UH-1N Huey Replacement Program\u2019s critical no-fail mission of protecting our nation\u2019s nuclear missile silos and supporting the continuity-of-government mission,\u201d Steve Callaghan, Sikorsky\u2019s vice president for business development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sierra Nevada Corp. also proposed a version of the Black Hawk that it designated \u201cSierra Force.\u201d However, it looked to cut down costs even further than Sikorsky by taking used UH-60As that had been divested by the Army and upgrading them to a modified UH-60L configuration with new General Electric T-701D engines, updated avionics and a glass cockpit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSierra Nevada Corporation recognizes that the U.S. Air Force has selected an alternative provider for the UH-1N Huey Replacement Program contract\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cWhile we are disappointed by the announcement, SNC and the Sierra Force helicopter team will review the notification letter and we will elaborate further on future options for rotary-wing aircraft capabilities once complete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the competition, company officials from Boeing-Leonardo team claimed the companies would be able to offer the most low-cost aircraft by being able to bank on the efficiencies that come along with large-scale commercial production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new MH-139 will be able to carry nine fully loaded troops. The aircraft should be able to hit a 135 knot cruise speed and fly at least three hours \u2014 and a minimum distance of 225 nautical miles \u2014 without needing to be refueled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force has relied on UH-1N Hueys since the 1970s for missions that run the gamut from personnel and VIP transport to protecting the ICBM fields that run along the northern tier of the continental United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But an effort to replace the aging aircraft has drawn out for about a decade, with the Air Force initially trying to sole source UH-60s in the early 2010s before pivoting to a new program called Common Vertical Lift Support Platform in 2011, which was later cancelled. The Air Force finally restarted its Huey replacement program in 2015, deciding in 2016 to make it a competitive procurement, according to Flight Global.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the process, U.S. Strategic Command leaders lamented the pace of the program, with current head Gen. John Hyten saying in August that, “we are going to get a new helicopter if I have to die trying or if I have to kill somebody to do it,\u201d according to Military.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n