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9 October 2024
The US Army is considering adoption of a new aircraft for initial rotary-wing aviation flight training.
While no alternative has yet been suggested,
nor a procurement effort launched,
the service is seeking to revamp its Initial Entry Rotary-Wing (IERW) flight training programme,
which could include a replacement for the current Airbus UH-72A Lakota light trainer helicopter.
A special request for information (RFI) contract notice posted by the army on 8 October 2024
asks industry vendors in the commercial aviation training space
to submit potential training solutions
that could help the service
“improve the quality of training provided to our new aviators, cut costs and improve efficiency”.
While the effort is primarily focused on services such as contractor-provided academic and flight instruction,
“the potential replacement of the current IERW helicopter”
is explicitly noted as a possibility.
The UH-72A is a derivative of the Airbus H145 civil helicopter.
Airbus delivered the first UH-72A to the army in 2006.
As of August, the company was supporting an army fleet of 223 Lakota trainers,
along with 212 UH-72As and 18 UH-72Bs in the national guard.
The UH-72A has served as the army’s primary training helicopter since 2016, according to Airbus,
Notably, the 8 October 2024 RFI says
the army is open to either continuing
the government-owned/contractor-operated aircraft model
or
switching to a contractor-owned/ contractor-operated (COCO) solution.
The contractor currently holding the contract for IERW flight training services is Virginia-based Amentum.
However, the army now appears unhappy with that arrangement,
saying the IERW programme
currently operates with inefficiencies from years of change and multiple disparate contracts”.
The army is accepting submissions under the IERW RFI until 6 December 2024.
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