U.S. Air Force to Launch New Helicopter CompetitionApril 29, 2011
 The U.S. Air Force said it will launch a competition to acquire 93 new helicopters dedicated to protecting sites that house U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles and to evacuating government officials during an attack. The service said it plans to release a draft of the competition details between mid-June and September, with the final request released later in the year, according to a Bloomberg News article. Bloomberg, quoting an article posted on the Air Force's website, noted that the helicopters will be in service by 2015. The Air Force article gave no indication about the size of the contract. The chosen helicopter would replace Textron's Bell Helicopter UH-1N Hueys, according to Bloomberg. Bryon Callan, a defense analyst at Capital Alpha Partners, told Bloomberg he expects Textron's Bell Helicopter unit, United Technologies' Sikorsky unit, Finmeccanica SpA and EADS Eurocopter to be among the bidders. Major General Randal Fullhart , the Air Force director of global reach programs, said in the service's article that the Air Force anticipates that a commercial or military helicopter already in development, or in production, could fit the requirements. Some companies have already been developing prototypes. Finmeccanica's North American subsidy, AgustaWestland, said it plans to compete with its AW139M copter — an aircraft the company said "has spent millions of its own money developing." Tim Healy, director of Air Force programs at Sikorsky, told Bloomberg in an e-mail the company will offer its H-60M Black Hawk. “The Air Force can derive significant savings” from “Sikorsky’s mature production line for the U.S. Army,” he wrote. The size of the contract will determine how many other companies compete. “I don’t think the market has really keyed in on this yet, but it is a sizable program and investors will pay more attention to it once the program parameters are firmly established,” Callan told Bloomberg. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Emily Moore) |
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