US Army to trim Black Hawk helicopter fleet
By Jen Judson
Wednesday, Dec 20
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is readying to trim its UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter fleet by nearly 8% as it prepares to field a replacement, Maj. Gen. Mac McCurry, the Army’s Aviation Center of Excellence commander, told Defense News in a recent interview.
The service plans to cut roughly 157 Black Hawks, or 7.5% of its total utility fleet, from its active-duty component. McCurry said the move is intended to help the Army optimize its current fleet while making room in the budget for the Black Hawk’s replacement, the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, or FLRAA, that will begin fielding in the early 2030s.
A year ago, the Army chose Textron-Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft to replace the 40-year-old Sikorsky-manufactured UH-60. The Army also has plans to replace the Boeing-made AH-64 Apache attack helicopter with the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft. Two companies are building competitive demonstrator aircraft.
https://www.defensenews.com/land/2023/12/20/us-army-to-trim-black-hawk-helicopter-fleet/
