Vertical Flight

Army Secretary Mark Esper is telling the defense industrial base to get on board with the service's modernization goals amid concerns over the service's drastic reallocation of funds from legacy upgrades and other programs to the defined six priorities in its fiscal year 2020 budget.

The Navy's fiscal year 2020 budget request pegs the service's upcoming training helicopter program with a total procurement cost of at least $1.1 billion for 109 aircraft, according to budget documents.

In a show of strict commitment to the Army's six modernization priorities, the service is ending the next-generation Block II upgrade program for the Chinook cargo helicopter after fiscal year 2020, according to the service's under secretary.

The Army's $182.3 billion fiscal year 2020 budget request would advance key service priorities through new research and development projects, including funding for contract awards supporting the Next Generation Combat Vehicle program and completion of the initial design phase for a major helicopter replacement program.

Advanced Turbine Engine Co. said today it has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office against the Army's award to General Electric Aviation for the Improved Turbine Engine Program, intended to replace the engines in the AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

The Pentagon's top weapons tester is recommending the Combat Rescue Helicopter program office adjust its schedule to allow for flight testing in an "operationally representative configuration."

The Navy spent $1.4 billion on backup helicopters "it did not need" until fiscal year 2020, and will spend $2 million annually to store those aircraft as a result of requirements offices not informing one another of schedule changes, according to a new government watchdog report.

Vendors competing in the Army's Improved Turbine Engine Program expect the service to downselect to one design in early 2019.

The Navy has deemed a theoretical "MH-53K King Dragon" helicopter as "not practical," estimating procuring such a platform could cost up to $7.6 billion in 2014 constant-year dollars for 48 aircraft, while developing and testing the aircraft could run $2.6 billion, according to documents viewed by Inside the Navy.