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http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/23 ... ith-mh-139
https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-ne ... -contract/
...more throughIn an upset,
a Boeing-Leonardo team has won a $2.38 billion contract
to manufacture a new batch of helicopters
to replace the Air Force’s UH-1N Huey used to guard the service’s nuclear missile silos.
Boeing and Leonardo’s MH-139,
a militarized version of the commercial AW139 manufactured
by Leonardo subsidiary AgustaWestland in Philadelphia,
beat out Lockheed Martin Sikorsky and Sierra Nevada Corp.,
which both offered versions of the UH-60 Black Hawk —
which some analysts saw as the service’s aircraft of choice going into the competition.
As such, the Sept. 24 contract announcement is a major victory for the Boeing-Leonardo team,
which received an initial $375 million for the first four helicopters
and the integration of military-specific items needed to bring the AW139 to the Air Force’s requirements.
The Air Force touted the program of an example of cost savings,
noting that the service was able to bring down
the price of the program from its original $4.1 billion cost estimate.
The Air Force plans on buying 84 new helicopters
over the course of the program,
with the first aircraft being delivered in fiscal year 2021.
Throughout the course of the competition,
Sikorsky’s HH-60U was seen as the frontrunner
by analysts who pointed to the fact that the Air Force
had initially sought to sole-source UH-60 Black Hawks to replace the UH-1N.
The U-model was differentiated from the Army’s Black Hawk
by the addition of a rescue hoist and electro-optical sensor, among other modifications.
Sierra Nevada Corp. also proposed a version of the Black Hawk that it designated “Sierra Force.”
However, it looked to cut down costs even further than Sikorsky
by taking used UH-60As that had been divested by the Army and
upgrading them to a modified UH-60L configuration
with new General Electric T-701D engines, updated avionics and a glass cockpit.
The new MH-139 will be able to carry nine fully loaded troops.
The aircraft should be able to hit a 135 knot cruise speed and
fly at least three hours —
and a minimum distance of 225 nautical miles — without needing to be refueled.
The Air Force has relied on UH-1N Hueys since the 1970s for missions
that run the gamut from personnel and VIP transport
to protecting the ICBM fields that run along the northern tier of the continental United States.
https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-ne ... -contract/