Airbus Helicopters pitch h135 for the USN TH-57 replacement

[chopper2004]

Well this competition has been going on for a while with Bell pitching the 407GX(P) - they painted up one up in training colors a few years back for the NHA fly in at Pensacola. Leonardo is pitching the TH-119K and Airbus Helicopters with the H135. It is a weird one - surprised they are not promoting the UH-72A becauase there are several examples with USNTPS at Pax River. On the army side, its already at Fort Rucker doing IERW.

There is an USN exchange instructor pilot with the German Marineflieger EC135 of MFG-5

So any thoughts or bets here?

cheers

Airbus to Pitch H135 as US Navy Trainer Replacement - Rotor & Wing International

[LRP]

Makes sense to go with the 135. By selecting a different airframe than the Army (UH-72), you can justify a separate procurement process and maximize the number of O5/O6 retirement jobs available.

[stormfury]

Originally Posted by LRP

Makes sense to go with the 135. By selecting a different airframe than the Army (UH-72), you can justify a separate procurement process and maximize the number of O5/O6 retirement jobs available.

That would almost be comical, if it wasn’t the truth.

[Um... lifting...]

That would almost be comical, if it wasn’t the truth.

Can't get an airframe from the same manufacturer. There is a danger that one individual might be able to hold down two separate positions that way. Additionally, a second manufacturer I believe increases the number of lawyers who can put their oar in to generate lawsuits in all directions.

I believe the UH-72 is still tied up in the courts due to the Army adding to their stable of UH-72s using a no-competition, no-bid process, which exercised AW & Bell, though only AW got up the energy to file suit.

[Helitech2316]

UH-72 lawsuits have been dismissed/withdrawn.