USAF Chooses AW-139 To Replace UH-1H

[SASless]

Meanwhile the Army is tickled pink with the H-60M and the Marines are very happy with their latest "Huey".....so the USAF had to try to out and try to turn a civil helicopter into a military machine.

Reckon Mr. Musk might catch whiff of this and come round with his folks and examine this under a much brighter light?

[Commando Cody]

Originally Posted by 212man

The whole programme paid lip service to the expression ‘upgrade’ and I think the only components that stayed were the cockpit doors and nameplates! The key point was the funding and overall programme process was administered in a totally different manner to a tender for a new type, so was a quicker and more streamlined “purchase”, with fewer hurdles to jump over.

What killed the UH-1N to Y conversion was when the early Ns came into the upgrade process their physical condition was so much worse than what the Gov't told the contractor that they would be it was actually cheaper and more practical to just build new ones.

[Lonewolf_50]

Same was true at Sikorsky when the Bs and F's came in to make the SH-60Rs.
Uh, no, these were ridden hard and put away wet was the final assessment.

[Blackhawk9]

Should have just got 412 EPX's would be in service now with all the problems of the 139 solved .

[SASless]

The Marines tried the UH-1N rebuild but quickly went new purchase of Y Models....so they had already shown the USAF the path forward.

Nothing like having a one off version with no parts commonality with other Military users. There is a cost savings in that concept that I am sure did not get a proper evaluation by the USAF.

The question might be along the lines of LM was new to ther helicopter game and did not have management with the level of experience or developed relationships with those doing the buying.

[KfirGuy]

I will never understand how this did not go to one of the two in-production medium lift military helicopters in the U.S. - either an H-60 variant or the UH-1Y.

At the same time that the USAF was arguing that it needed to divest entire aircraft Type/Model/Series in order to achieve savings - and used that as justification to park the KC-10, the A-10, and now the F-15C/D - it’s now adding a completely new and effectively “orphan” (within the larger DOD) MH-139 fleet that it now needs to stand up a full maintenance and training infrastructure for.

It doesn’t even seem like there have been any benefits along the line of “COTS will be cheaper or more reliable” either. Heck, even remanufactured UH-60A or UH-60L like Portugal is getting from the likes of Arista in the U.S. would have probably made better sense…

[Lonewolf_50]

You are singing to the choir, and they also have the HH-60W line replacing the HH-60G line.

I smell a political thing where "single source procurement" accusations were being made such that someone else gets a government contract is the answer.

This happened about 25 years ago as regards getting Blackhawks to Columbia under some State Department funded support to the War on Drugs...but that's a different story.