General James McConville, the Army’s Chief of Staff, delivered a two-part message about modernization to the Army Aviation Association’s annual conference last week.
On the one hand, he said, it is crucial for the service to move ahead on plans to field next-generation assault and scout aircraft. On the other hand, the Army must continue to improve its fielded fleet of combat helicopters, because many of those aircraft will remain in service through 2050.
General McConville, a product of the Army aviation branch, knows of whence he speaks. The current combat fleet is dominated by three airframes: the UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter, the AH-64 Apache
APA
The Army does not have a firm, long-term plan for replacing Apache or Chinook, and its roadmap for modernizing the two helicopters beyond this decade has not been formalized—even though both are expected to remain in service for several more decades.
Black Hawk will remain the most ubiquitous aircraft in the joint fleet for many years to come.
In the case of Black Hawk, the Army has recently selected a successor that will employ tiltrotor technology similar to that on the V-22 Osprey to increase range and speed.
However, the successor aircraft isn’t yet a program of record, and if the Army buys one per week when production commences, it will take two decades to replace half of the Black Hawk fleet.
So, if you think Black Hawk is going away anytime soon, guess again. General McConville said in his remarks last week that he expects the helicopter to remain in service for another 40-50 years, according to InsideDefense.com.
How the Army will buy two all-new rotorcraft while simultaneously improving three fielded ones is a budgetary puzzle. The service’s aviation procurement request for fiscal 2024 is $3 billion, equivalent to about four hours of federal spending at current rates.
That probably isn’t enough to meet all of the aviation branch’s needs for the future, but the service is straining to reconcile dozens of modernization initiatives across the force. Congress will need to help the Army find additional resources to maintain a robust air fleet.
A look at the three key combat aircraft in what General McConville calls the enduring fleet underscores why having a long-term modernization roadmap for each is critical.
Black Hawk. Of all the fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft in the joint fleet, the UH-60 is the most ubiquitous. The Army alone operates over 2,000 of them, and the other services have their own versions. So do a number of allies. Keeping the airframe current with technology and threats thus is important beyond the Army.
Although Black Hawk’s successor is slated to begin joining the force circa 2030, there is no guarantee that current plans will unfold as intended. Even if they do, the Army will still be relying on Black Hawk at mid-century and its replacement is unlikely to be as popular among allies as the UH-60 has been.
The Army will likely continue to buy new Black Hawks into the early 2030s, and it then will need to upgrade aircraft already in the fielded fleet for decades after that. The most important near-term upgrade will be installing an improved turbine engine to increase power and decrease fuel consumption.
Beyond that, a raft of electronic enhancements will likely be required to improve situational awareness, protect passengers, and expand the array of weapons the UH-60 can deliver. As technology advances, these enhancements may enable Black Hawk to match the performance of its successor in finding, fixing, and defeating enemies.
Integrating new capabilities into the fielded fleet will help Lockheed Martin’s
LMT
Apache. The AH-64 Apache is the Army’s premier tank-killer, an agile attack aircraft that the service has identified as its top modernization priority for the enduring fleet. The service is currently in the process of upgrading all 800 Apaches to a like-new “E” variant that will include advanced sensors, digital interoperability, and the ability to control drones.
However, the Army has not developed a detailed roadmap for further improvements beyond the AH-64E variant, and funding for that effort ends in fiscal 2025. It is inevitable that new threats and opportunities will dictate additional upgrades since no successor is waiting in the wings. These will likely include improved power generation, an open systems architecture, greater ballistic resilience and the ability to employ air-launched effects.
Installation on Apache of the same improved turbine engine destined for Black Hawk and future scout helicopters would significantly improve airframe performance while reducing logistics costs across the Army’s aviation fleet.
The Army needs an actionable, comprehensive modernization plan for Apache that extends beyond this decade in order to sustain the 4,300 skilled workers at Boeing Rotorcraft’s plant in Mesa, Arizona. Boeing contributes to my think tank.
Chinook. The CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopter is the aviation branch’s heaviest lifter. It is deployed in every active-duty division and also in the National Guard units of 25 states. Plans for a replacement have not progressed beyond the PowerPoint stage.
That means the Army needs to formalize a long-term plan for sustaining and improving Chinook. The Army embraced a Block II concept that would enable the aircraft to lift battlefield equipment like the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (a light truck), but then the service changed course—even though it acknowledged troops would likely rely on Chinook until 2060.
Chinook is sometimes described as a Vietnam-era airframe, but appearances are deceiving: its transportable payload has nearly doubled since it joined the force, while its self-protection and situational-awareness features are hugely improved. If soldiers want to lift an M777 howitzer across long distances fast, Chinook is the most flexible airframe for doing so.
Nonetheless, the local congressional delegation around the lower Delaware Valley has repeatedly had to press for additional money in the Army’s aviation budget to keep Block II upgrades on track. If that effort does not go forward, there would be little work remaining for Boeing’s Philadelphia rotorcraft complex, since production of the plant’s other major product, the V-22 Osprey, is wrapping up.
The Army knows that it will need to keep Chinook relevant and reliable for many years to come, but it may need additional resources from Congress to prevent a break in the production line.
Boeing’s two major rotorcraft sites in Arizona and Pennsylvania, along with the Sikorsky plant in Connecticut, collectively have built nine out of ten helicopters in the current Army fleet.
As noted above, Boeing and Lockheed Martin contribute to my think tank.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2023/05/02/army-chief-stresses-need-to-continue-improving-enduring-fleet-of-helicopters/