{"id":45541,"date":"2025-08-29T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/08\/29\/why-is-the-army-chopping-away-at-its-chopper-fleet\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:24:22","slug":"why-is-the-army-chopping-away-at-its-chopper-fleet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2025\/08\/29\/why-is-the-army-chopping-away-at-its-chopper-fleet\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is the Army chopping away at its chopper fleet?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: This <\/i>article<\/i><\/a> first appeared on <\/i>The War Horse<\/i><\/a>, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to their <\/i>newsletter<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many Americans, the U.S. Army is nearly synonymous with its helicopters. Think of popular films such as Black Hawk Down<\/i>, We Were Soldiers<\/i>, and Apocalypse Now<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in recent months, the service announced a plan to pare down its helicopter fleet, catching many of its aviators off guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cuts are part of a larger reorganization as the Army prepares for the changing landscape of warfare with one of the services\u2019 smallest budget increases<\/a>. The War Horse spoke with Jeremiah Gertler, senior analyst at the Teal Group defense and aerospace consulting company, to better understand why the Army is nixing so many of its iconic aircraft, what might replace them, and what might happen to the soldiers who work with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, some background and a look back at how we got here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavy helicopter losses among Russian forces in Ukraine led top U.S. Army officials to question<\/a> the survivability<\/a> of manned rotorcraft in future conflicts. Last year, the service cancelled the development of a new attack and reconnaissance helicopter, with Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George pointing<\/a> out<\/a> that sensors and weapons mounted on unmanned aerial systems\u2014think drones\u2014are \u201cmore ubiquitous, further reaching, and more inexpensive than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That effort accelerated in May, when the Army said<\/a> it will reduce one air cavalry squadron per active-duty combat aviation brigade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the months since, the Army said it would also divest<\/a> many of its older UH-60s and AH-64s and inactivate<\/a> the helicopter units in both of its Reserve expeditionary combat aviation brigades. Inactivate is not the same as deactivate, which means a permanent closure, but the Army has not announced plans for what it intends to do next with the units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What does the U.S. Army use helicopters for?<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Army generally uses helicopters for attack and logistics missions, Gertler explained. The AH-64 Apache carries an arsenal<\/a> of rockets, missiles, and a 30 mm chain gun in the attack and reconnaissance role. Meanwhile, the smaller UH-72 Lakota, medium-sized H-60 Black Hawk, and large H-47 Chinook helicopters carry troops, medical supplies, ammunition, humanitarian aid, and other cargo in and out of battlefields and crisis zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Why does the Army want to get rid of so many helicopters?<\/b> <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Gertler said it is the result of two influences: budgetary pressure to reduce the number of units in the Army and analysis of the war in Ukraine<\/a>, where large numbers of surface-to-air missiles threaten helicopters, and modular, affordable drones can perform low-altitude attack and reconnaissance missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is part of what\u2019s informing it, just the fact that pretty much anything that flies on that battlefield dies,\u201d Gertler said about the shrinking helicopter fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the divestments are unrelated to the safety issues plaguing Army aviation<\/a> in recent years, even before 67 people died on Jan. 29 when an Army Black Hawk collided with an American Airlines flight outside Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade power on a first-person view drone during a training exercise in Tunisia. (Sgt. Mariah Y. Gonzalez\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Q: Can drones do what helicopters do?<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, right now the Army is looking to experiment and find out what really works,\u201d Gertler said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both armies in Ukraine use drones extensively<\/a> in reconnaissance and surveillance roles, as spotters to guide artillery strikes, and as jammers to disrupt enemy communication and navigation systems. They have also proven useful in limited attack roles by dropping small munitions such as hand grenades<\/a> or by loitering above a target before striking like a missile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, a top Army aviation official, wrote in Army Aviation Magazine<\/a> that drones \u201cshould do the \u2018dirty, dull, dangerous\u2019 work\u201d that do not require a human\u2019s rapid decision-making or ethical judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But manned rotorcraft writ large are not going away any time soon, particularly for the transport role. Army officials expect to operate the H-60 until 2070<\/a>, and the service is steaming ahead on its replacement, the MV-75<\/a>, a tiltrotor that can fly like a fixed-wing airplane and land like a helicopter, similar to the Osprey flown by the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. NATO experts also point out that changing Russian tactics have made its attack helicopter fleet more effective<\/a> now than it was at the start of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n