The Air Force is considering a long-discussed merge of its two major helicopter acquisition programs into a single effort in hopes of being able to save money on the purchase of more than 200 choppers in a time of flattening or even shrinking Pentagon budgets over the next decade, according to service documents. Acquisition officials at the Aeronautical Systems Center want industry to provide details on a plan for fulfilling the service's requirement for new combat search-and-rescue helicopters and choppers...
