Steve TouchdownArticle very vague on type of F-16s, but I am assuming Dubya does not have to go to Congress and have all this publicity if it was just for 32 MLU upgrades for our existing fleet of A/Bs!?
Errr, yes, he does. Even Turkey’s F-16 modernisation programme has been notified to Congress, and that’s a NATO ally.
Check http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36-b/36b_index.htm to get an idea of what has to be notified. Some of the list never even took place: Czech F-16A/B Block 15s, for example.
Why all the talk of Block 50s etc. when the only specifics in any news item I’ve seen talk about “transfer” (and not SALE) and even a direct quote mentioning the possibility of MLU upgrades?
Where does the $$$ come from for F-16C/D Block 50+?! Pakistan’s FMF from the USA is already established for the next few years.
Best regards
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownI didn’t know that Nigeria had the Chinook
I’m pretty sure it was never delivered, but became a maintenance trainer with Boeing in Philly.
The other four that Nigeria ordered were completed as part of the batch for Spain, I believe.
Best regards
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
p.s. nice to see so many Bullies on the forum! 😀
Steve TouchdownOK… after doing some reading, something looks very strange for me. They said the IAI will be a partner in its designing, but on the other hand a prototype Javelin is already finished (by ATG) and will fly next month.
http://www.iai.co.il/site/en/iai.asp?pi=23048&doc_id=33270
…because there is a difference between the Javelin (biz-jet) and the AJT (military trainer variant).
Here’s what I posted in Touchdown-News today, which confirms the AJT version will be built in Israel…presumably they’re hoping for the IDF/AF to be the launch customer:
Colorado-Based Aircraft Maker Unveils Deal With Israeli Aircraft Industries
Aviation Technology Group on Tuesday unveiled a partnership deal with
aerospace heavyweight Israeli Aircraft Industries and confirmed it will
build the civilian version of its 2-seat personal jet, the Javelin, in
Albuquerque.
The firm, which has its headquarters in Colorado, will locate the entire
manufacturing infrastructure for the civilian version of its Javelin jet at
Double Eagle II Airport on Albuquerque’s West Side, company CEO George
Bye told the Journal at the National Business Aviation Association’s annual
convention here.
Bye said the firm would announce later this month the date it will break
ground on its planned 100,000-square-foot local manufacturing plant, which
will employ more than 200. Officers from the company were recently in
Albuquerque to meet with city officials. Bye said details, such as
incentives, hammered out during that meeting would be disclosed later this
month.
The Israeli firm, which builds, among other things, business jets for
Gulfstream, has agreed to make an undisclosed financial investment in the
company. It also will assist in marketing and building the military trainer
version of the Javelin, which will have different features such as ejection
seats and military-style control systems. Those jets will be made in Israel.
Bye said the trainer version’s low cost I slightly more than the $2.5
million for the civilian version I would make it an ideal candidate to
replace the aging fleet of more than 4,500 training jets owned by military
organizations around the world.
Israeli Aircraft Industries president Moshe Keret said his company would use
its extensive network of military contacts to introduce the Javelin trainer
to potential customers, citing the Israeli Air Force as an example.
“The aircraft the Israeli Air Force is flying now is from the mid-1960s, so
it’s about time,” he said, cautioning that the firm as yet had no
commitments or orders from any government.
IAI’s first aircraft, a jet built as a trainer for the Israeli military 50
years ago, is still in use, he said.
Just under 100 orders have been placed for the civilian version of the
Javelin, Bye said. Orders require $25,000 deposits.
The partnership with Israeli Aircraft Industries lends some big-name
credibility to Aviation Technology Group’s plans to enter the so-called
“very light jet” market with its “sports car” entry into a field dominated
by more sedate jets like the Eclipse 500.
Israeli Aircraft Industries will also help the firm attain FAA certification
for the Javelin, which is expected by late 2006. The first aircraft are to
be delivered by mid-2007.
Bye said Aviation Technology Group expects to produce 70 to 120 civilian
Javelins annually in Albuquerque. Production figures for the trainer version
have not been determined, he said.
With a presence in nearly 40 countries, Israeli Aircraft Industries is a
well-known builder of aircraft, aircraft components, missiles and
satellites. The firm has also been named as a supplier by another very light
jet upstart, Connecticut-based Avocet, which is building an aircraft similar
to the Eclipse.
Eclipse officials, headquartered in Albuquerque, have said their light jet
will revolutionize the plane industry because it will cost a fraction of
today’s private jets. The company plans to manufacture its jet in
Albuquerque as well.
Aviation Technology Group recently revealed the prototype of its jet, which
is slated to have its first flight, using Williams FJ33 engines, by the end
of this year. Bye said Tuesday his company has not yet decided whether it
would use the Williams engine in production aircraft.
“We want the best possible performance at the best possible price,” he said.
Bye did not disclose the value of Israeli Aircraft Industries’ investment,
but said the firm is a minority investor in his company.
Bye’s firm previously declined a $6.25 million investment offer from New
Mexico’s State Investment Council.
Aviation Technology Group has not yet reached a decision on a location for a
second U.S. plant, which will also build the trainer version of the Javelin.
Source: Albuquerque Journal (13th October, 2004)
on 14/10/04 10:10 am, Steve ~ Touchdown-News wrote:
> Photos of the Javelin AJT can be found here:
>
> http://www.avtechgroup.com/gallery.asp
>
>
> IAI to build training jet with US firm
>
> Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. has entered into a joint strategic agreement
> with Colorado-based Aviation Technology Group (ATG) for the design,
> development, and manufacturing of a new combat training jet, IAI said
> Wednesday. Neither company released the financial conditions of the
> partnership.
>
> The new combat trainer will be called Javelin AJT (Advanced Jet Trainer),
> based on the US company’s current two-seat trainer with the same name, and
> will have a maximum flying speed of 500 nautical miles per hour (0.90 mach).
>
> As a training jet for air forces worldwide, the plane’s avionics will be
> coordinated with the avionics for F-16, F-15, Russian-made MiG-29 and Sukhoi
> Su-30 fighters, as well as European-built Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon
> jets.
>
> Modern systems will allow the Javelin to simulate various combat and flying
> scenarios, including sensors and weapons platforms built by ATG, final
> assembly of the trainer will take place at IAI’s Lahav facilities, and the
> US company’s New Mexico centre.
>
> Under the agreement, both companies will cooperate on international
> marketing of the Javelin and engineering work on the trainer.
>
> This is the latest joint venture launched by IAI with a foreign company to
> take place in the last two years. In January of 2003 the state-owned defence
> and aerospace concern first announced the creation of a jointly-held company
> with Hindustan Aeronautics of India (HAL), mandated to market HAL’s advanced
> light helicopter (ALH) called the Dhruv, using IAI aeronautics.
>
> IAI has also entered into a strategic agreement with Connecticut-based
> Avocet for the manufacturing and licensing of a four to six-seat twin- jet
> engine plane to fill the needs of the emerging air taxi and fractional
> ownership market. at a lower operating cost than current small planes of its
> type.
>
> Additionally, IAI recently completed its 100th Gulfstream G-200 Galaxy
> corporate jet for the US giant.
>
> Source: The Jerusalem Post (13th October, 2004)
>
> —
>
> Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownThis story still seems to be the subject of misleading press articles (not pointing the finger at you, Alexz, but the authors/editors)!
I posted the original thread surrounding this purchase at:
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=27068
As Ja posted back then, the Australian press wrote this up as a “done deal” for the Seabird Seeker aircraft, which was completely inaccurate: the Coalition bought just two of those (JY-101 & 102) as a stop-gap measure.
As you’ll see at the bottom of this piece that I posted to Touchdown-News yesterday, so far less than $6 million has been awarded for 8 aircraft.
Incidentally, as delivery of the aircraft to Iraq was a requirement (at the supplier’s cost and risk), the winner was only ever likely to have been a local manufacturer/assembler: US companies even pointed out that no broker would provide insurance cover for transporting the aircraft to Iraq.
The actual winner of the full tender has finally been announced, and has gone to a Canadian-designed light aircraft called the Zenair CH-2000. However, this will be built in Jordan and Iraq under license as the Sama CH-2000.
A few details on an aircraft that, personally, I had never heard of can be found at:
http://www.airbum.com/pireps/PirepCH2000.html
Jordan Aerospace Industries wins Iraqi tender for 16 surveillance aircraft
Jordan’s focal location in the region was cited by a local light aircraft maker as a competitive edge that enabled it to win a tender to provide Iraq with 16 surveillance aircraft.
Several international companies, including the US and Europeans, competed for the tender but the three-year-old Jordan Aerospace Industries (JAI) gained preference because the two-seater Sama CH2000, the brand involved in the deal, is being manufactured in Jordan, according to the maker’s director, Muayyad Samarrai. JAI will also train Iraqi pilots on this advanced model of surveillance aircraft.
“For an American competitor, it is costly to manufacture and transport aircraft to Iraq,” commented Samarrai. “It is also risky, in terms of security, to transport aircraft parts and to send assembling teams to Iraq, let alone the labour costs.”
JAI is the sole owner of the Sama CH2000 Type Certificate, a status earned through a partnership with the 35-year-old Zenair Ltd., a Canadian company with manufacturing facilities in Canada and the US.
JAI is the first private company in the Middle East to manufacture, assemble and service light aircraft. Its team, according to Samarrai, is mainly comprised of Jordanian experts who have retired from the Royal Air Force.
A team of 40 Jordanian specialists work on Sama CH2000, under the supervision of an aviation safety team from the Jordan Civil Aviation Authority and experts from the mother company which verifies quality.
Sama CH2000 takes pride in being one of the “extremely few” light aircraft that was licensed under the extremely strict Federal Aviation Regulation Part 23.
Another remarkable feature in the aircraft is that it is equipped with Instrument Flight Rating, which refer to the qualifications in Sama that allow pilots to “fly blind,” avoiding disorientation during flight.
The plane is both Federal Aviation Administration and Jordan Civil Aviation Authority certified, according to Samarrai.
Sama CH2000 will be used by the Iraqi air force “for delicate surveillance missions,” including those aimed to prevent sabotage attacks on infrastructure facilities.
Training for Iraqi pilots will take place in cooperation with the Jordan-based Mideast Aviation Academy and the Royal Aero Club.
The $30 million private JAI sells nine other multifunctional aircraft, ranging from the American one-seater Vortex “sportscopter,” to the low-noise, low-speed two-seater German Remos Rali.
Source: The Jordan Times (30th September, 2004)
——————
Transatlantic Traders Inc., Evansville, Ind., was awarded on Sept. 28, 2004, a $5,818,000 firm-fixed-price contract for eight SAMA CH2000 Aircraft. Work will be performed in Amman, Jordan (87.45 percent) and Baghdad, Iraq (12.55 percent), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 26, 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were an unknown number of bids solicited via the World Wide Web on June 18, 2004, and 31 bids were received. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownAnyone have pix of this MH-6 mod?
Google, as far as I’m aware it only exists as a proposal. Presumably the vast majority of whatever Boeing/MDHI propose will be based on the current A/MH-6M MELB (Mission-Enhanced Little Bird) that’s being fielded with the 160th SOAR(A) at the moment.
I’m sure there will be artists’ impressions and technical details etc. released for the contenders once the RFP date has passed though.
Best regards
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
p.s. don’t rule other contenders completely out of hand: the US Border Patrol earlier this week ordered 55 Eurocopter EC-120 Colibri choppers as well as a substantial number of Bell 430s……
Although the EC-120 is probably too small/light for the ARH concept, the EC-135 could be a possible contender and would be built in Mississippi….
Steve TouchdownI’m a little short of time, but here are some bits & pieces I’ve posted to Touchdown-News on the ARH over the past few months, the most recent first:
Some more detailed background on the US Army’s ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) has emerged over the past couple of weeks. The vast majority of it is of a highly technical nature and far beyond the scope of “news” coverage, but I have included a few of the more pertinent details below.
In brief, confirmation of a requirement for 368 platforms is confirmed and the requirement is for an existing helicopter: the Low Rate Initial Production is envisaged to begin as soon as 2005/6. Recent news stories have mentioned that Bell Textron, Boeing (presumably the MH-6 “Little Bird” joint-bid with MDHI) and also EADS/American Eurocopter are all thought to be considering submitting proposals for consideration. The deadline for these is scheduled for 1st November, 2004.
From documentation published on 20th September (all officially sourced):
This draft solicitation is for the purpose of obtaining industry review and comment on the solicitation and requirements documents to be utilized in the conduct of a full and open competitive procurement to provide for the modernization/modification of an existing helicopter platform to fulfill the U.S. Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) requirements.
1.0 Scope
The new Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) addresses the requirement for aerial armed reconnaissance capabilities in the current and future force. The Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) will modify an existing aircraft and integrate existing subsystems, Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) and Non-Development Item (NDI) required for the total ARH qualification and associated processes. Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) will follow the RDT&E requirement and Full Rate Production (FRP) is scheduled to begin in FY 2008.
1.1 Background
On 23 February 2004, the United States (US) Army announced the results of the Aviation Modernization Task Force. As a result, the Army will restructure aviation organizations to reflect current and anticipated needs. The Army plans to procure 368 new ARH during the time period of FY 2005 to FY 2011.
The ARH program is established to correct deficiencies in the fielded system currently fulfilling the armed reconnaissance role, allow for commonality with other helicopter platforms, and to enhance future growth potential. The primary user for the ARH is the Active Component. This helicopter will meet the identified time-sensitive requirements for aerial armed reconnaissance capabilities. The ARH mission is an existing mission currently being conducted by OH-58D aircraft. The ARH will address these current deficiencies through COTS or NDI solutions capable of operating with Current and Stryker equipped forces.
This helicopter will possess the capability to enable dominant maneuver for the joint air-ground maneuver force by providing aggressive combined arms reconnaissance. This capability contributes to the multi-dimensional precision engagement Force Application capability described in the Major Combat Operations Joint Functional Concept for multi-dimensional precision engagement, including close fire support by providing a manned platform which combines Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and engagement capabilities. It is a goal of the Battlespace Awareness Joint Functional Concept to ‘fight first to ensure that blue force commanders have superior information’. The armed reconnaissance capability allows the maneuver commander to ‘see first’ with a man-in-the-loop decision maker well forward to provide proactive versus reactive decision making capability and fight for actionable combat information regarding dispositions of enemy forces and relevant terrain to permit friendly maneuver to positions of advantage. It will provide limited organic fires as well as a robust capability to coordinate delivery of networked fires. This helicopter shall provide the maneuver commander reaction time and maneuver space by detecting enemy forces at distance from friendly forces
1.2 Requirements
The acquisition for the ARH is based on the principles of streamlined acquisition, to rapidly field an existing platform design and provide capability to the field as quickly as possible. Below, in broad operational terms, the desired aircraft attributes are identified.
a. Deployability. Rapidly deployable by strategic (C-5B/C-17A) and intra-theater (C-130) airlift and by fast sealift with minimized teardown/reassembly.
b. Responsiveness. Provide mission responsiveness with enough operational range, speed and station time to conduct operations throughout the 300 x 300 kilometer (KM) area of operation forecast in the Unit Equipment (UE) Concept. Provide capability for the crew to distill the large volume of information gathered into actionable combat information.
c. Interoperability. Capable of being fully integrated into the joint C4ISR operational and electromagnetic environment, and comply with provisions of the Net Ready Key Performance Parameter (NR-KPP). Provide a capability for the crew to synchronize and direct non-organic and joint service munitions. ARH will be interoperable with Army and joint fires systems and manned/unmanned aviation platforms and with Allied/Coalition systems and platforms.
d. Agility. ARH will have sufficient engine power margin for the conduct of maneuvering flight and evasive maneuvers in the nap of-the-earth (NOE) and out of ground effect (OGE) hover environments and permit operations at typical mission weights in high and hot environmental conditions.
e. Versatility. ARH will be enabled for quick transition between engagements, changes in mission task, purpose and direction to execute branches or sequels, or to conduct reconstitution or mission staging without sapping operational momentum. Capable of operation in day/night and adverse weather/limited visibility conditions. Shipboard capable.
f. Lethality. Capable of providing immediate suppressive organic fires (7.62mm/caliber .50 machine gun, 2.75 inch rockets) for self defense and provide an ability to fight for information during the reconnaissance mission, and carry/current/projected Air-To-Ground Missiles (AGMs) to destroy high value, time sensitive, targets of opportunity.
g. Survivability. Survivable against small arms (up to 7.62mm ballistic protection for both crew and vital components. Incorporate a suite of Aircraft Survivability Equipment (ASE) to provide warning and protection against man portable air defense systems (MANPADS), and mobile radar directed air defense systems. Survivable in Information Warfare, Electronic Warfare, and Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) environments. Provide improved crashworthiness.
h. Sustainability. Sustainable in a field environment with potential for two-level maintenance support, have a high level of reliability, reduced fuel consumption, be capable of operating forward with friendly ground forces in austere environments, and have a Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) and Night Vision Goggle (NVG) compatible cockpit. Require minimal training support, and be supportable by existing Army logistics systems.
—————-
MDHI and Boeing offer Little Bird
MD Helicopters (MDHI) and Boeing have sealed a formal arrangement to jointly offer the MH-6 Little Bird for a major US Army programme to replace the service’s Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters, Boeing has confirmed.
Army leaders are understood to favour the MH-6 Mission Enhanced Little Bird, already in development for the US Special Operations Command, for the light armed reconnaissance helicopter (LARH) programme. Competition is expected from Bell as well as Europe’s AgustaWestland and Eurocopter.
MDHI acquired the H-6 (MD 530) production line in Mesa, Arizona from Boeing in the late 1990s, but needed a larger partner to compete for the proposed LARH order for 368 aircraft for delivery after 2007. The LARH programme was established using some of the $14.6 billion freed by the army’s decision to cancel the Sikorsky/Boeing RAH-66 Comanche in February.
However, the US Senate and House have voted to cut funds for the LARH effort in the fiscal year 2005 budget, criticising the project as premature until more details are disclosed.
Source: Flight International via Hoover’s (13th July, 2004)
———
To explain the rationale behind this proposal, and give some more background information, I can add the following which I hope will be of interest to any other Army Aviation nuts.
From official sources, this is an explanation and overview of the planned requirement for 368 helicopters under the ARH programme:
“On February 23rd, 2004, the U.S. Army announced the termination of the Comanche Helicopter Program. As a result, the Army will restructure aviation organizations to reflect current and anticipated needs.
Specifically, the Army plans to procure 368 new Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters during the time period of FY05-FY11. The ARH will conduct armed reconnaissance to fight for actionable combat information to enable joint/combined air-ground maneuver execution of mobile strike, close combat and vertical maneuver operations across the full-spectrum of military operations. The ARH provides precision-capability through lethal organic fires, dynamic employment of joint networked fires and responsive target acquisition/identification for full-spectrum, day and night operations; is rapidly deployable for global employment against a distributive, highly adaptive threat on an asymmetrical battlefield employing conventional and unconventional methods; and enables the air-ground maneuver commander to ‘see-understand-act first’ with a warfighter-in-the-loop to provide proactive decision making, assure critical reaction time and maneuver space and set the conditions for the joint/combined air-ground maneuver team to ‘finish decisively’.
Planned Integration/Qualification – 3rd quarter FY 2005
Planned Production Commencement – FY 2006
Planned Quantitites – Support First Unit Equipped (FUE) of 30 aircraft as soon as possible. Maximum production rate of 90 aircraft per year.”
Proposals, such as that made by the MDHI-Boeing team with the MH-6, are required by 13th August, 2004.
As the Flight International piece mentions, funds for the ARH (and also the LUH – Light Utility Helicopter) programme have not been agreed to thus far. The following requirements have been made of the Army before any further discussion with regard to fiscal appropriations can be dealt with:
ARMY AVIATION MODERNIZATION PLAN:
(1) Not later than March 1st, 2005, the Secretary of the Army shall submit to the congressional defense committees an updated modernization plan for Army aviation.
(2) The updated Army aviation modernization plan shall contain, at a minimum, the following matters:
(a) The analysis on which the plan is based.
(b) A discussion of the Secretary’s decision to terminate the Comanche helicopter program and to restructure the aviation force of the Army.
(c) The actions taken or to be taken to accelerate the procurement and development of aircraft survivability equipment for Army aircraft, together with a detailed list of aircraft survivability equipment that specifies such equipment by platform and by the related programmatic funding for procurement.
(d) A discussion of the conversion of Apache helicopters to block III configuration, including the rationale for converting only 501 Apache helicopters to that configuration and the costs associated with a conversion of all Apache helicopters to the block III configuration.
(e) A discussion of the procurement of light armed reconnaissance helicopters, including the rationale for the requirement for light armed reconnaissance helicopters and a discussion of the costs associated with upgrading the light armed reconnaissance helicopter to meet Army requirements.
(f) The rationale for the Army’s requirement for light utility helicopters, together with a summary and copy of the analysis of the alternative means for meeting such requirement that the Secretary considered in the determination to procure light utility helicopters, including, at a minimum, the analysis of the alternative of using light armed reconnaissance helicopters and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters instead of light utility helicopters to meet such requirement.
(g) The rationale for the procurement of cargo fixed-wing aircraft.
(h) The rationale for the initiation of a joint multi-role helicopter program.
(i) A description of the operational employment of the Army’s restructured aviation force.
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownJa,
part number 205-001-046-1 = CYCLIC GRIP BELL 205/212
Bell 205 is, of course, better known in these parts as UH-1H Huey.
Not sure of the Phantom connection: interchangeable common part perhaps?
Best regards
Steve ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownRef: PA AH-1F Cobras
There’s actually some very recent and concrete news about the 20 currently being procured from DoD stocks in the latest issue of ‘Scramble’ (page 88) which confirms things are progressing in a positive fashion.
I can verify the source of the info….as it came from me! :diablo:
Best regards
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownThis again proves that this is not a partisan India-Pakistan thing. If I’m not mistaken, isn’t Defence Talk a mainly Pakistani site?
They too have receieved an email similar to mine, so this proves conclusively that either Pak Def or Pakistan Observer are lying or have quoted from the same bogus source.
Seems somewhat unfair to slate PakDef to me: surely their only involvement in this is that somebody posted the Pakistan Observer article on their forum…much the same way as Golden Arrow did here.
Or have I missed something and the Observer piece was constructed using PakDef as a source?
Surely the only blame in this lies with the author of the piece…unless she was quoting FI’s report without checking the source of that claim.
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownMy thoughts to the families but this bit:
“The Lynx has a history of engine and rotor problems, with at least 15 servicemen being killed since the 1970s.”
15 military fatalities in 30 years is hardly a damning inditement (please excuse my spelling) of the Lynx’s safety record. Why don’t these idiots leave their opinions at the door first thing in the morning? I thought they were supposed to report the news, not their spurious opinions.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Phil, especially given that the most likely cause of this tragic accident (rumoured yesterday, and confirmed via e-mail to me from CZ today) was that the Lynx flew into power lines.
It’s most probably a 1 Regiment AH.9 from Gutersloh that was lost, as I believe this is the unit that was scheduled to be involved in the FAC exercise “Flying Rhino” that began on Tuesday in CZ.
I happened to be at Caslav AB in CZ on Monday when 1 Squadron arrived with 8 Harrier GR.7s, and we also noted a pair of Lynx plus a couple of JFACSTU Hawk T.1As on the ramp there. Presumably it was one of these that was sadly lost, although I have heard there may have been further aircraft involved flying from another Czech airfield at Namest nad Oslavou.
Thoughts and condolences to the family and loved ones of all those involved.
Best regards
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownYep, as Arthur has said that FFP (firm fixed price) of around $6.7 million is what the US Army pay Sikorsky for each basic UH-60L, without engines. No spares, no engineering support etc. is included. The GE engines are around $500K each, and the Army buys those in vast quantities and also “recapitalizes” them, uprating them in the process.
The figures quoted come from the MYP contract, which is constantly updated as “option” orders are exercised, reducing per-unit costs.
To confirm that price as being correct, figures from a completely different source give the actual flyway unit cost of UH-60Ls delivered in FY2000 as $7.4 million per chopper: this was because engines from the still-born EH-60L programme were used and had been previously funded.
Alterations don’t come cheap though: an HH-60L medevac conversion adds $4.4 million to the basic price. The MH-60S for the Navy work out at just under $10 million, without engines.
All FMS customers pay around the same rate (Colombia, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and Thailand being recent examples) but some others, such as Austria, opt to buy via direct commercial sale via the manufacturer.
Steve ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownPolish Navy MiG-21bis…snapped by me at Babie Doly in 2001
Steve ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownUS Army UH-60L Black Hawks (as of July 2004):
UH-60L Unit Price: $5,285,463.00
Advance Procurement: $1,418,636.00
_____________
Total FFP: $6,704,099.00
For complete “ready-to-go” airframe from Sikorsky, with only cost of engines to add….around $800K to $1M, from memory.
Steve TouchdownSometimes, i understand why there is a certain cult amongst Dutch planespotters which ignores helicopters.
😮 😮 😮
The same ones who don’t like the US Army ‘cos they don’t understand its OrBat maybe?! 😀 Name & shame ’em, I say!
Art’s post above looks 100% correct to me on the various designations.
The new EADS/Eurochopper system is pretty easy too: the Super Puma is the EC 225 and the Cougar the EC 725…so the fixation with “adding a 5” still exists!
Steve ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownA couple of unusual shots are of the vintage Mk3 WT910
Blimey I must be vintage now too then…I didn’t fly WT910 at Malling, but sister-ships WT902, WT914 and XA306 all appear in me log book for the course I did in July ’80!
Was never comfortable in the TX.3, brick outhouse that I am, so did the last two days and my solo on the unit’s “Barge”…aka Sedbergh TX.1 XN186.
Ahhh memories of a carefree, post-GCSE summer! 😀
Steve
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