Thursday, May 16, 2024
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Key Issues USAF depot plan LSM design FLRAA program schedule
The Air Force has awarded Boeing a $178 million production and sustainment contract for an additional seven MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopters, according to a company news release.
“Building the Grey Wolf fleet and paving the way towards full rate production is a critical step in supporting the Air Force’s modernization priorities,” Azeem Khan, MH-139 program director at Boeing, said in a statement. “Delivering on these commitments and getting more capability into the hands of our customers is important to their mission protecting vital national assets.”
The new award, which is allocated using fiscal year 2024 dollars, brings the total number of aircraft under contract to 26. It comes after the Air Force in its FY-25 budget request chopped the number of MH-139s it originally planned to buy in half due to spending limits imposed by the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Prior budget requests specified the service would purchase 74 Grey Wolfs overall, but that buy has now been reduced to 36. The service is instead asking to buy eight helos next year, per FY-25 justification documents, and two per year after that through 2029.
The MH-139s will replace Vietnam war-era UH-1N Huey helos that are deemed to have unresolvable capability gaps, the service has said. They will be used to patrol nuclear silos and will be primarily operated by U.S. Global Strike Command.
Boeing said it expects to deliver the first low-rate initial production aircraft to the Air Force this summer. The program entered LRIP about one year ago following negotiations over a technical data package to support long-term organic sustainment.
“With the first production aircraft currently undergoing additional testing and other aircraft in various stages of production, Boeing is on track to deliver the first LRIP aircraft to the Air Force this summer,” the news release stated.
In December 2023 the first operational MH-139 began flight testing at the Leonardo Helicopters facility in Philadelphia. The company in January said it plans to deliver the first 13 helos to the Air Force this year.