Originally Posted by
Lonewolf_50
Apparently, you don't know much about the V-22 Osprey. (Also fast, and expensive).
I was under the impression that the V is an attempt to back fit the glass cockpit and various systems upgrades into the L.
Can you expand on your disappointment as regards the L to V upgrade?
(Didn't they do a lot of A to L upgrades over the years?)
Lonewolf,
sorry I missed your question somewhere along the lines re: UH-60V. I’m not personally disappointed in the program in itself, on its face it seemed like a good plan: Providing a cost effective aircraft with a modern cockpit configuration that is similar to UH-60M(notice I say “Similar”, the actual displays/processors are not the same as 60M, I haven’t read where they are interchangeable) the the National Guard and Medical Services Corps. Initially this was going to be 300-400 or so aircraft, now it’s ballooned to 600-700.
Having spoken to someone who was associated with the organization who is doing the “Upgrade” (CCAD) and has flown the 60V it is fully transparent that this program has a sole purpose of keeping people busy at CCAD until UH-60M Recapitalization starts(think of Recap as a service life extension) near term, and FLRAA enters service long term.
Consider the following: the recapitalization effort for converting 60A to 60L and then life cycle extension for UH-60L have been completed, the battle damage/crash damage lines are slowing due to the drawdown of Iraq and Afghanistan, and HH-60G overhaul for the US Air Force will draw down as new build HH-60W aircraft enter service. How else will you keep the H-60 line going in the interim?
CCAD doesn’t have the capacity they claim to produce the amount of UH-60V aircraft being talked about. They are simply buying time and the politicians are more than happy to help by throwing them a bone, instead of negotiating with Sikorsky over a new multi year contract to get more new UH-60M airframes that, while more expensive, are way more capable. The additional expense could possibly even be reduced doing this when combined with Foreign Military Sales aircraft.
The Army would also end up with a more common configuration in the fleet across the Active Army and National Guard/Reserves, thereby driving support costs down.
Just my $0.02 🤣