AFA: Air Force may get used UH-1Ns from Marines
February 24th, 2012 7:07 pm
Air Force Global Strike Command chief, Gen. James Kowalski confirmed that the air service is currently refurbishing three UH-INs that it got from the Marine Corps to replace three Air Force Hueys that have been lost over the years.
If the aircraft are in decent shape, and it doesn’t cost too much to get them ready for Air Force service, the blue suiters will look into buying more used Hueys.
Air Force Global Strike Command is the service’s largest operator of Hueys, using the 1970s-vintage UH-1Ns to ferry security forces around the command’s vast Minuteman III ICBM fields.
Keep in mind that the Air Force was hoping to replace the Hueys in this role with a brand new chopper, saying the UH-1N can’t carry enough security troops and doesn’t have the range to fly across entire missile fields without refueling.