{"id":64306,"date":"2023-05-03T20:32:37","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T20:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2023\/05\/03\/industry-devises-plans-to-keep-helicopter-fleet-capable-for-decades\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:55:16","slug":"industry-devises-plans-to-keep-helicopter-fleet-capable-for-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2023\/05\/03\/industry-devises-plans-to-keep-helicopter-fleet-capable-for-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"Industry devises plans to keep helicopter fleet capable for decades"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2014 Companies that manufacture the U.S. Army\u2019s helicopter fleet are devising plans to modernize the aircraft \u2014 now reaching 40 years old \u2014 in order to keep them flying for decades more<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army plans to develop and field two future vertical lift aircraft by the early 2030s \u2014 a Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft <\/a>and a Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft<\/a>. But officials have acknowledged the current fleet, which took shape in the 1980s, will need to stick around even after the transition is well underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Apache, the Black Hawk, is going to be around for the next 30 to 40 years,\u201d Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville told reporters at the Army Aviation Association of America\u2019s annual conference, which took place in late April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army officials also confirmed that the CH-47 Chinook could end up flying for 100 years before retiring around 2060.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even so, McConville said the current fleet will eventually end up on display stands at Army aviation headquarters, much like the UH-1 Huey, the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior and the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s not much clarity on when the Army will phase out aircraft in the current fleet, how that would happen and what number of new aircraft will replace older ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army\u2019s program executive officer for aviation, Maj. Gen. Robert Barrie, told Defense News in an interview at the AAAA event that he is hesitant to put timelines on how long the current fleet would continue to be a part of the fighting force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what the future holds,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery day it\u2019s operating, we owe it to our soldiers for it to be relevant and ready to go, and that\u2019s where we\u2019re focused.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army is in the midst of working an aviation force design update, Maj. Gen. Mac McCurry, the Army Aviation Center of Excellence commander, told Defense News in an interview at AAAA. \u201cWe\u2019re working on the allocation, the basis of issue, probably not directly one-for-one for a Black Hawk, with an increased capability. You probably don\u2019t need the same amount in each formation. So we\u2019re looking and doing the modeling and how many do you need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCurry said the Army will have more fidelity to make a decision on force structure once the future vertical lift programs get into engineering and manufacturing development phases; that\u2019s when the service can see how the new aircraft perform in developmental and operational testing compared to the roles and missions the Army wants for the systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen we will probably be able to more readily optimize the fleets and see those kinds of downward curves on the platforms we have today,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upgrades for existing aircraft<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Some of the current fleet is quite young based on when the last airframes were built along with recent upgrades, McCurry argued. The Apache fleet was an older one,<\/a> but now it\u2019s considered younger because the most recent variant and upgrade plans are newer, he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UH-60 fleet is about 16 years old on average, and the Chinook fleet is about 9 years old for a large number of aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I look at the actual flight hours on the platforms, they\u2019re fairly young,\u201d McCurry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army right now, according to Barrie, is focused on ensuring the current fleet is safe and maintains a baseline capability. Baseline capabilities include making all aircraft in the fleet digital to allow for upgrades, he explained, and increasing the processing power within the aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And modernizing the current fleet to have the same modular, open-system architecture to continue to import capability and upgrades is going to be key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service is also injecting more funding in its fiscal 2024 budget for survivability equipment as adversaries advance capabilities and tactics, Barrie noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radio and communication modifications are also taking place, including improvements to Link 16 technolgoy, which connects aircraft with ground forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, both the Black Hawk and Apache helicopters are due to receive a new, next-generation engine beginning in the next few years, albeit several years delayed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apache Echo-models are receiving the latest upgrade \u2014 the V6 \u2014 which was first fielded to units in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping up with the future fleet<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

At recent trade shows, defense contractor Boeing has begun to showcase what it can do for the Apache beyond its latest version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt levels things up, embraces, incorporates new transformation technology, and then you get performance gains,\u201d Jenny Walker, who is in business development for Boeing\u2019s Apache program, told reporters at the AAAA event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Apache model on display featured an additional wing pylon, joining the two already there on the current version, to provide additional weapons in a greater variety onboard. The company also showed a concept for a directed-energy capability on one of the pylons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding additional payloads to the aircraft, Walker said, is made possible through the Improved Turbine Engine Program, or ITEP, engine, which will be integrated into Apache helos in the coming years, as well as drivetrain and tail-rotor improvements that will allow the aircraft to fly 135 nautical miles to an objective and stay there for an hour or more and return. The current Apache would likely be able to stay out at the objective for roughly 30 minutes, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lockheed Martin has also designed a next-generation turret for the Apache\u2019s sensors that help it see and target threats. The turret will enable easier upgrades down the road but also reduces maintenance time and has a faster slew capability for pilots to keep eyes on targets and accurately fire weapons. The turret will go into a yearlong soldier evaluation this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lockheed\u2019s Sikorsky is prioritizing ensuring the Black Hawk\u2019s compatibility to operate alongside the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, Paul Lemmo, the subsidiary\u2019s president, said in an interview at AAAA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company wants to \u201censure they can interoperate \u2014 doesn\u2019t mean they have to be the same, but they should be operating on the same open-system standard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is also looking at the potential application of digital vehicle controls for the aircraft that would enable the insertion of capabilities like Sikorsky\u2019s Matrix, an autonomy system<\/a> that would not take over for pilots entirely but would offload some of the work so they can focus on the mission. The system will also increase safety by autonomously avoiding accidents like midair collisions and flying through degraded visual environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Chinook F-model Block II is not yet fielded to the active force<\/a>, it will provide additional lift capability. The original plan was to swap out the rotor blades with new advanced ones, but trouble with blade stall and vibration in testing led the Army to cancel the effort a year ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barrie said the advanced rotor blade\u2019s technical issues, paired with the cost of the blade, remains \u201cfundamentally unchanged,\u201d but the Army has continued with Block II development and learned that even with the older blades the system is meeting performance requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have the paddles out with the U.S. Army trying to keep that patient alive,\u201d Boeing\u2019s vice president and H-47 program manager, Ken Eland, said at AAAA about the advanced rotor blades. \u201cI would like to see that press forward. There\u2019s some challenges we\u2019re working through with them timing-wise, but we\u2019re interested in trying to keep it on life support.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UH-60, AH-64 and CH-47 may need to fly for decades more, even as the Army brings future aircraft into its fleet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":106572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[72,7,160,29,12,49,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3330],"class_list":["post-64306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aaaa","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-digital-show-dailies","category-industry","category-techwatch","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OBKDLMBMBJD43CHYSRM3OO2MCA","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2023\/05\/03\/industry-devises-plans-to-keep-helicopter-fleet-capable-for-decades\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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