The UH-1N Huey has been a fixture in the U.S. Air Force since the 1970s. And that won’t be ending any time soon.Read the rest at DN's site.
Air Force Global Strike Command is looking at flying the helicopters for another 30 years, meaning some could fly until they are 70 years old.
The Air Force is asking defense companies for suggestions on how to increase the venerable Huey’s endurance, range, speed, survivability, navigation and communications capabilities to meet Pentagon requirements for guarding nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile fields in the northern U.S.
The Air Force also wants to be able to fly the choppers in all types of weather, states an April 17 request for information. The goal is to install these capabilities on UH-1Ns between 2014 and 2018.
My question is this. Is the USAF serious (which means they're crazy) or are they simply playing budget games?
The UH-60 is flying for all the services in one form or another and is still in production. It would be simple to piggy back on an Army or Navy buy of that airframe and have new helicopters for their security teams to fly out on.
If the UH-60 is too expensive (which I doubt) then they could buy Army National Guard Lakota helicopters.
They could get Sikorsky S-92's for a song (Sikorsky would love to have a US military service induct those aircraft into service)....
Heck even Bell Helicoper would love to get a military sale for their new Super 525....
The point is simply this.
Why are they looking to upgrade these helicopters instead of getting new builds? Oh and before you go high and to the right, I have nothing against upgraded equipment. In most cases thats a sensible solution...but we're talking about the aircraft that help protect our nuclear missiles.
If we're going to have anything thats new, it should be protecting our nuclear weaponry.
And that's my point. If I think that way then surely Congress Critters do too (or I would hope they do) so this has to be a budget game...right?
It's just not a priority. Consider recent issues the USAF had with nuclear weapons security. The nuclear deterrent has to compete within the USAF and USN budgets for other things. It's one of those things that should be funded separately.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just us either. Every few decades the RN gets to see it's shipbuilding budget slashed to pay for new SSBN's, as does the USN. Wait till the USAF has to start funding a replacement for the 450 Minuteman III's it still operates, which they should have been doing already given they'll be 60 years old in 2030 when they're supposed to be retired.
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